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STAMP  HUNTING 


OC>  : \ i) 


BY 


LEWIS  ROBIE, 

Author  of  "Across  Wyoming  on  Horseback." 


1898: 

DONOHUE,  HENNEBERRY  & CO., 
CHICAGO,  U.  S.  A. 


cyt 


COPYRIGHTED  1898, 

BY 

T.  8.  ROSIE, 


CHAPTER  I. 

SOMETHING  ABOUT  “STAMP  FIENDS.” 

“I  thought  you  were  traveling  for  Seaburv 
and  Johnson.” 

“So  I was,  Doc,  the  last  time  I was  through 
here,  but  I made  a change  some  time  ago,  and  I 
am  now  with  J.  Ellwood  Lee  Co.  of  Conshohoc- 
ken,  Pa.” 

“ Conso — what  ? ” 

‘ ‘ Conshohocken.  ” 

“ How  do  you  spell  it  ? ” 

< < C-O-N-S-H-O-H-O-C-K-E-N  ;Conshohocken.  ” 
“If  I were  you  I would  have  your  firm 
change  the  name  of  their  roosting  place.  It 
would  act  as  a hoodoo  with  me  if  I was  on  the 
road,  but  I know  of  your  house.  Their  sponge 
tents  and  catheter,  stuff  blow  in  here  once  in  a 
while  from  the  jobbing  houses,  but  I never 
bought  any  of  their  goods  direct.  They  don’t 
make  plasters  do  they?  ” 

“I  should  say  we  did.  We  are  right  up  to 

snuff  on  everything  in  that  line.” 

5 


e 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


“But  S.  and  J.  are  the  people  on  plasters.- 
I won’t  have  anything  else  but  their  belladonna 
goods,  and  Mead’s  adhesive  plaster  in  my  drug 
store.  ” 

“That’s  all  right,  Doctor,  goods  of  their 
manufacture  are  of  the  best  quality  possible  and 
well  known,  but  where  quality  and  name  are 
certainly  essential,  it  is  not  everything  neces- 
sary to  sell  goods  now-a-days.  Prices  must  play 
a factor.  Now  Lee’s  quality  is  of  the  high- 
est, and  first  to  be  considered,  but  their  discounts 
and  prices  are  more  liberal.  The  only  thing 
you  can  say  against  our  stuff  is,  that  our  plas- 
ters are  not  so  well  known  out  here,  but  we  more 
than  make  up  for  it  in  the  price,  and  judging 
from  the  gait  we  are  now  at,  every  druggist, 
not  only  in  this  country,  but  in  all  foreign  coun- 
tries, will  know  of  J.  Ell  wood  Lee,  as  they  do 
now  of  Seabury  and  Johnson,  and  Johnson  and 
Johnson.  Besides,  we  are  parent  people  on 
hundreds  of  things  these  houses  do  not  touch  to 
any  great  extent;  like  ligatures,  hypodermic 
syringes  and  needles;  Lee’s  patent  solid  end 
catheters,  stethoscopes  and  many  surgical  and 
hospital  specialties.  ” 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


7 


“ Yes,  and  I know  they  are  all  right  on  those 
goods,  and  on  plasters  too  for  all  I know,  but  I 
am  positive  of  S.  and  J’s.  goods.  Competition  is 
pretty  lively  in  plasters  just  now.  How  about 
Bauer  and  Black  ? They  are  pushing  things  hard 
through  here,  too.” 

‘ ‘ Bauer  and  Black  ? Oh,  they  are  a farm  out- 
fit up  herein  Chicago,  doing  a two  by  four  ten  cent 
business.  They  take  turns  as  to  who  milks  the 
cows  in  the  morning,  and  in  the  afternoon  one  of 
them  builds  the  fire  in  the  stove  and  fills  the  ket- 
tle full  of  dope,  while  the  other  goes  down  towm 
and  buys  the  cloth  in  a dry  goods  store.  They 
then  spread  their  stuff  on  the  cloth  with  a stick, 
and  punch  the  holes  in  their  plasters  through  with 
a gimlet.  But  no  joking,  Doc.,  Bauer  and  Black 
are  all  right.  They  are  doing  a rapidly  increasing- 
large  business,  and  they  are  fearless  competitors. 
S.  & J.  are  no  competition  out  here  in  Illinois 
now  at  all,  but  in  the  plaster  line,  along  this  road 
particularly,  Bauer  and  Black  are  much  more  so 
than  any  one  else,  not  excepting  Johnson  and 
Johnson,  who,  at  present,  probably  do  the  largest 
business  in  plasters  in  the  West.  Their  man 
Spear  through  here  is  a stem  winder  and  is  giv- 


8 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


in g J.  & J’s.  men,  Cook  and  Brown,  a hard 
chase.” 

“But  I thought  S.  & J.,  and  J.  & J.,  were 
the  same.  ” 

“You  don’t  tell  me  so  ? Why  I have  explained 
the  difference  a thousand  times,  and  yet  I believe 
one-half  the  doctors  in  the  country,  and  many 
druggists  still  think  that  they  are  all  of  the  same 
house,  or  of  the  same  breed  of  pups.  The  fact 
is,  some  years  ago  R.  W.  Johnson  pulled  out 
of  Seabury  and  Johnson,  which  firm  consisted  of 
him  and  George  J.  Seabury.  He  took  his 
brother  with  him  and  started  in  competition 
under  the  name  of  Johnson  and  Johnson,  while 
Seabury,  who  is  really  the  whole  push  of  S.  & J. , 
still  clings  to  the  old  name,  Seabury  and  Johnson. 
It  is  unfortunate  for  Seabury,  because  Johnson 
and  Johnson’s  goods  are  really  about  the  same, 
and  most  of  the  trade,  and  the  physicians,  would 
not  throw  up  their  hands  for  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two,  and  J.  & J. , selling  at  a little  bet- 
ter inducement,  give  them  the  advantage. 
Besides,  S.  & J.,  antagonize  the  jobbers,  which 
trade  pushes  out  Johnson  and  Johnson’s  goods, 
on  account  of  their  more  liberal  policy  with  them. 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


9 


“That  accounts  for  my  getting  so  many  of 
J.  & J’s.  goods  from  the  jobbers.  You  speak  of 
Spear  being  a stem-winder  for  Bauer  and  Black. 
How  about  their  man  Wilson  who  used  to  be  with 
Seabury  and  Johnson  ? 55 

‘ ‘ I know  him.  Smokes  a pipe  and  is  always 
busted.” 

“Yes,  that’s  the  fellow.  Not  so  windy  and 
not  half  so  much  of  a liar  as  you  are,  either,  I 
reckon,  but  as  you  say,  he  is  always  busted.  I 
had  to  let  him  have  $2  to  enable  him  to  get  out  of 
town  when  he  was  here  last,  but  it  was  returned 
all  right.” 

“Yes,  it  certainly  would  be.  I would  rather  he 
would  owe  me  $500  than  $5,  and  he  is  awful  handy 
to  have  around  if  you  are  busted  yourself.  If 
you  want  a dollar  and  he  hasn’t  it,  he  will  borrow 
$2  from  some  one  else  and  give  you  half.  He  is 
a salesman  too,  but  a mystery  to  most  of  us  how 
he  sells  anything  at  all.  He  doesn’t  say  much, 
and  when  he  does  speak  he  talks  in  such  a low  tone 
you  have  to  guess  at  half  what  he  does  say.  He 
is  so  slow  and  indifferent  that  if  a house  fell  on 
him  he  wouldn’t  be  surprised  or  would  he  move 
any  quicker.  Start  us  all  out  at  the  same  time 


10 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


and  at  the  same  gait,  we’ll  fall  all  over  him 
the  first  two  or  three  days,  but  in  a stretch  of  ten 
days  or  so,  he  will  bring  in  more  business  than 
any  one  in  the  bunch.  He  is  a determined  sort 
of  a cuss,  too.  I used  to  work  with  him  for  S.  & 
J.  around  Chicago  with  an  open  buckboard. 
One  day  it  was  cold  enough  to  freeze  the  ears 
off  from  a jack  rabbit,  and  I was  beefing  to  pull 
in  and  quit,  but  he  was  determined  to  get  in  his 
average  number  of  orders,  and  he  kept  at  it  long- 
after  dark,  till  he  finally  landed  his  man.  It 
was  after  nine  o’clock  though,  before  we  got 
thawed  out,  and  had  something  to  eat.  But 
speaking  of  Seabury  and  Johnson  reminds  me  of 
the  old  revenue  stamp  they  used  on  their  Benson’s 
plasters  years  ago.  Have  you  any  of  them,  Doc.  % 
or  any  old  perfumery  bottles,  pills,  face  powders 
or  patent  medicines  with  the  stamps  on  ? ” 

“ I don’t  believe  I have.  1 used  to  have  a lot 
of  old  stuff  but  I got  so  tired  seeing  it  lying 
around  here  so  long,  that  last  fall  I made  a big 
cart  load  of  it  and  dumped  the  whole  shooting 
match  into  the  river.  Most  of  it  had  stamps, 
too.” 

“You  probably  threw  away  several  hundred 


STA.MP  HUNTING. 


11 


dollars  worth  of  old  stamps,  Doctor.  Between 
yon  and  me,  there  is  a value  put  on  these  old 
revenue  stamps.” 

“ Is  that  so  ? I didn’t  know  that.  Who  pays 
any  money  for  them  ? You  can’t  use  ’em  for 
postage,  and  the  government  won’t  redeem  them, 
as  I tried  to  have  them  do  so,  myself,  several 
years  ago.  ” 

“No,  but  collectors  demand  them,  and  the 
comparative  scarcity  of  these  medicine  stamps 
now  fixes  a price,  and  some  of  them  are  worth 
more  than  you  ever  dreamed  of,  such  as  the  six  cent 
orange  proprietary  used  on  Osgood’s  Indian 
Chologog,  Wilhoft’s  Fever  and  Ague  Cure,  and 
a few  other  dollar  and  a half  remedies.  There 
were  so  few  issued,  finding  one  is  like  finding 
thirty  dollars  in  cash.” 

“You’re  joking.  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that 
there’s  any  old  revenue  stamp  worth  thirty  dol- 
lars ? You’re  crazy.” 

“Dig  one  up  here,  and  see  if  I am.  And  then 
take  Seabury  and  Johnson’s  stamp.  I will  give 
you  five  dollars  apiece  for  all  you  will  trot  out, 
of  a certain  kind.” 

“You  don’t  mean  it.  Well,  come  to  think  of 


12 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


it,  I believe  I have  an  old  box  of  these  plasters 
and  I’ll  just  call  your  five  dollars.  Let  us  step  back 
into  the  back  room  and  find  out.  Yes,  sir,  here 
you  are;  one,  two,  four,  yes,  eight  of  them. 
Trot  out  your  forty  dollars,  old  man.” 

4 ‘But  they  are  not  the  right  color,  Doc.  The 
rare  ones  are  a lake,  sort  of  reddish  brown  color. 
These  are  black  and  are  only  catalogued  five  cents. 
The  other  is  catalogued  eighteen  dollars,  and 
worth  it,  because  of  so  few  known.  In  fact,  out- 
side of  a few  in  the  leading  collections,  I only 
know  of  a dozen  or  so  copies  scattered  through 
the  country.  None  of  the  stamp  dealers  have  any 
that  I know  of.  You  see,  the  law  was  repealed 
before  many  of  these  were  used,  but  thousands 
and  thousands  of  the  black  ones  were  issued,  and 
are  comparatively  common.  Another  thing,  here 
are  three  of  the  lot  different  from  the  rest.  Do 
you  see  any  difference  ? ” 

“No.” 

4 6 Look  again.  See  the  word  ‘ porous 5 erased  or 
obliterated  on  these  and  not  on  those.  That  was 
done  because  the  Alcock  people  finally  obtained 
through  the  courts  the  exclusive  right  to  the 
words  6 porous,’  compelling  Seabury  and  John- 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


13 


son  to  erase  the  words  from  their  stamps.  First 
it  was  done  with  a pen,  which  fact  made  that  stamp 
more  valuable  than  the  latter  method  of  a die  be- 
ing used  like  these.’5 

“Well,  I want  to  know;  and  people  pay  money 
for  these  old  stamps.  I can  understand  how  one 
can  becomes  interested  in  coins,  as  there  is  value 
in  them,  but  I thought  this  stamp  fad  was  con- 
fined to  ‘ kids 5 and  postage  stamps,  and  had  died  out 
long  ago.  Tell  me  who  collects  them,  what  class 
of  people,  etc.  You  may  have  these.  Bring  up 
your  chair  and  sit  down.  It  is  stormy  outside, 
and  my  clerk  will  watch  the  front.  I’ll  give  you 
an  order  for  a few  things;  but  tell  me  more  about 
these  stamp  fiends — you  call  ’em.  The  retail  drug 
business  is  so  confining  that  here  in  a small  coun- 
try town  we  never  hear  of  what  other  people  are 
doing,  outside  of  the  newspapers.” 

‘ i Stamp  collectors,  Doctor  Bailey,  are  made  up 
of  all  kinds  of  people  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
It  is  a hobby  once  fastened  can  never  entirely  be 
shaken  off.  You  may  lose  interest  for  awhile, 
perhaps  altogether,  but  there  will  come  a time 
when  you  will  be  back  again,  more  enthusiastic 
than  ever.  I received  a letter  from  one  of  Min- 


14 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


nesota’s  leading  business  men  the  other  day,  who 
said:  ‘ A few  years  ago  I had  a very  fine  collec- 

tion of  foreign  and  United  States  stamps,  but  the 
large  number  of  new  issues,  and  other  varieties, 
induced  me  to  part  with  it,  and  stop  collecting. 
For  awhile  I had  nothing  to  do  with  stamps,  or 
collecting  them,  but  the  old  craze  again  took  hold 
of  me  and  I made  a specialty  of  United  States. 
Again  the  minor  varieties,  etc.,  induced  me  to 
stop  and  sell  out.  For  two  or  three  years  I made 
good  my  resolve  not  to  collect  stamps  again,  but 
at  last  the  hobby  has  come  back  in  full  force,  and 
I am  at  it  now  worse  than  ever. 5 

‘ ‘ I know  many  of  my  boyhood  friends,  who 
collected  stamps  twenty  years  ago,  dropped  it  as 
they  entered  business  life,  but  lately  have  had 
the  mania  come  back,  and  are  now  collecting  and 
as  enthusiastic  as  when  they  were  school  boys. 
You  would  be  surprised  to  know  of  the  prominent 
men  collecting  stamps,  and  stamp  enthusiasts. 
The  Czar  of  Eussia  is  a stamp  collector.  The 
Duke  of  York  has  one  of  the  largest  and  best  col- 
lections known,  valued  at  several  hundred  thous- 
and dollars.  Other  members  of  the  nobility  of 
all  foreign  countries  are  ardent  lovers  of  stamps, 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


15 


and  in  this  country,  many  of  the  wealthy  and 
prominent  people  in  public  and  business  life,  of 
all  vocations,  sexes  and  ages  are  stamp  collectors. 
It  is  hard,  however,  to  educate  an  interest  in 
them.  Stamp  fiends  are  generally  born,  not 
made,  though  of  course  many  have  become  inter- 
ested by  seeing  others  interested,  but  they  prob- 
ably had  the  inward  hobby  or  inclination  toward 
it  beforehand,  and  like  a smouldering  log,  it 
needed  only  a fan  to  start  the  flame.  I have  a 
friend,  a leading  dry  goods  merchant  in  Highland, 
a little  town  near  St.  Louis,  in  this  state,  who  has 
a very  fine  collection  of  stamps,  especially  in 
United  States  revenues,  and  is  a very  enthusiastic 
collector,  but,  try  as  he  will,  he  cannot  get  his 
young  son  interested  in  them  at  all,  and  he  calls 
his  father  an  “ old  chump,”  collecting  old  stamps. 
Not  far  from  him  is  another  business  man,  w^ho 
has  no  use  at  all  for  stamps  or  stamp  collectors, 
but  has  a boy  who  is  as  crazy  over  stamps  as  his 
business  competitor,  and  his  father  thinks  he 
has  ‘ wheels.5 

“We  all  have  our  hobbies,  and  what  seems 
foolish  and  ridiculous  to  one,  may  be  the  very 
life  and  existence  of  another;  and  collecting  some- 


16 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


thing  is  all  the  rage  in  the  present  day.  There 
are  collectors  of  monograms,  jewels,  autographs, 
old  china,  candle-sticks,  medals,  coins,  armor, 
etc.  Nothing  could  be  queerer  than  the  articles 
which  some  of  these  individuals  make  it  the  object 
of  their  lives  to  accumulate.  A fellow  up  here 
in  the  northern  part  of  Illinois  is  making  a col- 
lection of  rooster’s  spurs.  The  druggist  telling 
me  about  him  said  I was  no  better  paying  good 
money  for  old  labels,  costing  about  thirty  cents  a 
thousand.  He  thought  I was  a big  chump.  If 
he  only  knew  I got  six  dollars  for  the  stamps 
I paid  him  forty  cents  for,  he  wouldn’t  think  I 
was  so  chump-like. 

“There  is  a certain  traveler  of  means  who  is 
getting  up  all  the  tattooed  human  heads  he  can 
find.  Another  person  is  collecting  cigar  butts, 
while  the  poster  craze  among  the  more  fashiona- 
ble and  better  element  of  society  is  quite  the  fad 
now.  Another  collecting  mania  is  for  bills  of 
fare  from  as  many  different  hotels  as  possible. 
Patti  papers  the  walls  of  her  private  sitting  room 
with  opera  programs  from  all  over  the  world,  in 
which  she  has  participated.  But  after  all,  stamp 
collecting  takes  the  lead.  ” 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


17 


“In  1860  there  were  only  about  500  stamps  in 
existence,  and  were  of  no  account,  but  since 
that  time  the  mania  for  collecting  them  has 
grown  to  such  an  extent,  that  a rare  stamp  now  is 
almost  current  funds  in  every  quarter  of  the 
globe.  But,  gee  whiz  ! Doc,  it  is  half  past  eleven. 

I must  go.  I’ll  tell  you  more  about  stamps,  etc. , 
when  I get  round  again  in  about  ninety  days. 
What  plasters  and  dressings  can  you  stand  ? Give 
me  a trial  order  and  see  how  our  stuff  opens  up. 
“All  right,  I will  do  it.  Put  down — 

2 boxes  of  belladonna  plasters, 

1 box  strengthening  plasters, 

1 box  belladonna  and  capsicum, 

25  lbs.  cotton  in  lbs., 

10  lbs.  cotton  in  % lbs. , 

10  lbs.  cotton  in  £ lbs., 

5 lbs.  cotton  in  oz. 

How  does  your  gauze  come,  in  glass  or  boxes  ? ” 

“ Both.” 

“Well,  I prefer  glass.  Don’t  dry  out  so 
quick. 

5 — 5 yds.  corrosive  sublimate  1-2000, 

10 — 1 yds.  corrosive  sublimate  1-1000, 

3 — 5 yds.  5 per  cent,  iodoform, 


18 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


2— 5  yds.  10  per  cent,  iodoform, 

**  1 yds*  5 per  cent,  iodoform, 

3 —  1 yds.  10  per  cent,  iodoform, 

1 gross  3-piece  silk  court  plaster,  and  you 
might  add  a half  a gross  of  those  commercial 
catheters,  assorted  sizes,  6 to  12.  ” 

“ How  about  oiled  muslin  or  oiled  silk  ? ” 

‘ ‘ Don’t  sell  much.  Have  all  I want  any  way.  ” 
Lee’s  sulphur  torches,  fifty  cents  a dozen?  ” 
“Yes,  put  in  three  dozen  of  them.  And  a 
half  a dozen  rolls  of  white  silk  isinglass  plaster. 
That’s  all  this  time.  That  will  make  a freight 
shipment,  and  I’ll  see  how  the  stuff  compares 
with  your  competitors.  I have  been  much  inter- 
ested in  your  stamp  people,  and  I’ll  look  through 
my  cellar  before  you  come  again.  Maybe  I’ll 
find  a six  cent  orange  proprietary  stamp  you  say 
is  worth  thirty  dollars.  ” 

“ I hope  you  will.  I am  much  obliged  to  you 
for  the  order.  If  the  goods  are  not  up  to  the 
standard,  jump  on  me.” 


CHAPTER  II. 


STAMP  COLLECTING  IN  1875. 

“Say,  yon  red-whiskered  stamp  fiend,  you 
fake  plaster  man,  your  iodoform  gauze  ain’t 
worth  a sou.” 

“What  is  the  matter  with  you  Doc.?  You’re 
talking  through  your  suspenders  now.  Who  is 
telling  you  Lee’s  iodoform  gauze  isn’t  all 
right  ? ” 

c c It  came  back  on  me  from  Dr.  Henry  across 
the  street.  He  said  it  was  no  good,  and  he 
couldn’t  get  any  results  out  of  it;  said  it  wasn’t 
anywhere  near  ten  per  cent,  and  it  didn’t  look 
yellow  enough.  ” 

“You  tell  Dr.  Henry  he  doesn’t  know  anything 
about  iodoform  gauze.  I defy  any  one  to  tell 
by  the  color  how  much  iodoform  there  is  in  it. 
Make  him  a proposition,  or  rather  I’ll  make  you 
a proposition.  Buy  J.  Ellwood  Lee’s  gauze  on 
the  market  and  give  it  a labaratory  test,  and  if 
there  isn’t  the  percentage  of  iodoform  printed  on 

19 


20 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


the  label  in  the  goods,  I’ll  pay  for  the  gauze.  If 
it  does  stand  the  test,  you  pay  for  it.” 

“ But,  perhaps  as  you  say,  he  didn’t  know  any- 
thing about  it.  I see  the  young  man  sold  it 
again  to  a doctor  out  of  town,  and  he  didn’t  kick 
any.  Put  me  down  for  five  more  yards  in  glass, 
and  a dozen  one  yards  in  glass, — but  where  have 
you  been  since  you  were  last  here  ? You  left  me 
so  interested  in  stamps  that  I have  hauled  over 
everything  I had,  and  found  quite  a few.  I ran 
across  a couple  of  Palmer’s  old  perfumery  bottles 
with  thirty-two  cents  in  stamps  on  each  one  of 
them.  How  do  you  account  for  that?  My 
predecessor,  whom  I bought  out  here  ten  years 
ago,  had  the  bottles  in  stock  then.” 

u That’s  explained,  Doctor.  The  selling  price 
of  the  goods  must  have  been  eight  dollars,  as  it 
required  a one  cent  stamp  or  one  cent  tax  for 
every  twenty-five  cents.  That  is,  a dollar  article 
had  to  have  a four  cent  stamp,  and  so  on,  but 
the  reason  so  many  were  put  on  these  Solon  Pal- 
mer’s perfumery  bottles  was  that  the  double  tax  was 
necessary — that  is,  Palmer  slapped  on  sixteen  cents 
in  stamps,  getting  four  dollars  for  the  pound  bot- 
tle, but  the  druggists  sold  it  out  generally  at  fifty 


STAMP  HUNTING, 


21 


cents  an  ounce,  or  eight  dollars  by  the  bottle,  and 
that  necessitated  sixteen  cents  more  in  stamps. 
It  was  a long  time  before  the  government  found 
out  about  this,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  I have 
found  sometimes  sixteen  cents  in  stamps  on  them, 
and  other  times  thirty-two  cents.  Here  in  Illinois 
and  the  West,  I have  found  to  date  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  ten  cent  green  stamps,  worth  at 
wholesale  now  about  sixty  or  seventy-five  cents 
each,  and  eight  or  ten  of  the  ten  cent  blues  worth 
seven  dollars  and  a half  or  so,  each,  and  hundreds 
of  sixes,  worth  from  five  to  twenty  cents  each, 
and  most  all  found  on  Solon  Palmer’s  pound  bot- 
tles of  perfumery  with  glass  labels.  Palmer 
must  have  used  at  least  ten  thousand  of  these  ten 
cent  stamps,  as  it  was  only  on  perfumery  bot- 
tles of  this  character  and  cans  of  opium  that  this 
denomination  was  used.” 

‘ c Is  that  so  ? But  it  makes  me  feel  very  tired 
indeed,  to  know  all  this  now.  I had  thousands  of 
these  medicine  stamps  at  one  time.  Why  didn’t 
you  come  round  six  or  eight  years  ago  and  tell  me 
about  it  then  ?” 

‘ ‘ But  I didn’t  know  it  myself  at  that  time,  and 
if  everyone  knew  of  it  and  saved  their  stamps 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


22 

they  wouldn’t  be  scarce,  and  therefore  of  little 
value.  It’s  their  scarcity  and  the  increased  de- 
mand that  places  the  price  on  them.  There  are 
more  collectors  for  this  class  of  stamps  every 
year,  and  fewer  stamps.  From  the  natural  law 
of  supply  and  demand,  match  and  medicine  stamps 
of  the  United  States  must,  therefore,  necessarily 
continue  to  advance  in  price.” 

( ‘ But  suppose  collectors  should  take  a notion 
to  quit  collecting  and  put  all  the  stamps  on  the 
market;  wouldn’t  the  price  tumble  ? ” 

“ Certainly,  but  such  a thing,  generally  speak- 
ing, is  impossible;  as  I told  you  when  I last  called 
on  you,  it  is  a hobby  you  can’t  altogether  throw  off. 
Take  away  the  postoffices,  the  railroads,  telegraph 
and  all  signs  of  advanced  civilization,  place  us 
once  more  where  Columbus  found  us,  and  you 
won’t  find  any  stamp  collectors.  But  stamp  col- 
lecting nowadays  is  different  from  what  it  was 
twenty  years  ago,  when  I was  a boy.  I first 
started  collecting  stamps  when  I was  twelve  years 
old,  in  1875.  In  those  days  a dollar  paid  for  any 
kind  of  a stamp  was  an  enormous  sum,  as  it 
looked  then.  I remember  paying  seventy-five  cents 
for  a six  cent  United  States  envelope  of  1857 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


23 


issue,  and  my  mother  calling  me  a crazy  boy  for 
spending  so  much  money  on  one  stamp.  ‘ Why 
don’t  you  buy  one  of  those  packets  containing  one 
hundred  varieties  for  the  same  money  and  get  so 
many  more  for  your  collection,’  she  said.  To-day 
this  six  cent  stamp  is  worth  fifty  dollars  and  the 
one  hundred,  although  advanced  considerably  too, 
are  not  worth  more  than  ten  dollars.” 

“ Isn’t  that  strange;  to  think  that  in  twenty 
years  a little  piece  of  paper  could  increase  in  value 
fifty  times.  I could  have  had  a fine  collection  of 
these  stamps  myself,  if  I had  thought  they  would 
be  worth  anything.  A young  fellow  offered  me 
his  collection  for  ten  dollars;  I think  it  was  along 
about  1880,  and  he  had  a great  album  full  of  them 
too,  but  I wouldn’t  have  given  a dollar  for  any- 
thing of  that  kind  then.” 

“ You  missed  it,  Doc.;  but  my  old  time  collec- 
tion including  this  rare  stamp  and  nearly  1500 
other  different  kinds  was  stolen  from  me  and 
never  recovered.” 

“Is  that  so?  That  is  too  bad.  How  did  it 
happen  ? ” 

“ It  was  in  this  way.  In  1883  I was  in  the 
employ  of  Marshall  Field  & Co.,  in  Chicago, 


24 


STA.MP  HUNTING. 


having  started  with  that  firm  three  years  before 
when  it  was  Field,  Leiter  & Co.  Three  dollars  a 
week  was  the  munificent  stipend  offered  me  at  the  * 
start.  I was  given  a mallet  and  a hatchet  and 
directed  to  knock  the  covers  off  from  a hundred 
print  boxes.  By  night  time,  I reasoned  out  as  I 
dragged  myself  to  my  room  that  I had  well 
earned  fifty  cents.  Along  about  two  months 
afterward,  the  head  of  the  department  came  round 
and  said  I was  getting  along  first  rate,  and  they 
had  concluded  that  I was  worth  more  money  to 
them,  and  had  raised  my  salary  to  four  dollars  a 
week,  and  the  first  of  January  they  would  give 
me  five.  The  first  of  the  year  came  and  on  my 
receiving  the  five  dollars,  I swung  clear  of  past 
help  from  home,  and  vowed  I would  stand  upon  my 
own  resources.  After  paying  board  and  clothes, 
and  necessary  expenses,  the  end  of  the  week  did 
not  find  me  with  a very  large  roll  for  spending 
money,  but  I knuckled  down  to  it,  and  for  five 
months  lived  and  kept  myself  on  five  dollars  a 
week.  By  that  time  I had  so  mastered  the  duties 
expected  of  me  as  stock  boy,  that  I reached  out  to 
sell  goods.  I would  light  onto  everybody  roam- 
ing through  the  stock  loose,  and  in  this  way 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


25 


caught  onto  a number  of  customers  and  soon  had 
quite  a little  trade  worked  up.  But  I didn’t  get 
, any  special  credit  for  it.  Only  department  sales- 
men received  credit  for  sales,  and  all  goods  I 
sold,  or  any  other  stock  boy  sold,  went  in  only  as 
general  credit  to  the  department.  I kept  track, 
however,  of  the  sales  I made  as  near  as  I could 
judge,  and  tabbed  the  total  amounts  each  day  on  a 
shingle.  One  day  I reasoned  out  to  myself  that 
it  was  only  fair  that  I should  get  credit,  and  a 
special  book  or  record  kept  of  what  I did  in  the 
office,  like  the  salesmen,  so  that  after  a while  Mr. 
Marshall  Field  would  know  my  name,  and  what  I 
was  doing.  I concluded  to  interview  Mr.  Field, 
himself  on  the  subject,  and  immediately  sought 
him  out  in  his  private  office.  It  was  some  little 
time  before  I could  get  by  the  outer  guards,  and 
private  secretaries,  but  finally  reached  him,  with 
the  shingle  of  sales  in  my  hand.  I opened  up 
that  I was  tired  selling  goods  and  receiving  no 
credit  or  pay  for  it,  and  that  I wanted  to  be  a 
salesman  known  to  the  firm  as  well  as  to  myself. 
Besides,  five  dollars  a week  salary  was  not  enough 
to  even  live  on. 

u Mr.  Field  is  a very  affable  man,  but  answers 


26 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


questions  by  asking  them.  He  has  a peculiar 
way  of  bowing  and  twisting  his  head  when  talking. 

“ ‘ What  is  your  name?’  he  said.  I told  him, 
and  he  asks,  ‘ How  long  have  you  been  here  ? ’ 

‘ ‘ ‘A  little  over  a year,  ’ I says.  6 He-he-ah-ah- 
oh-oh,’  in  his  peculiar  drawl.  ‘ You  are  getting 
now  more  than  I got  when  I was  your  age.’ 

“ ‘That  may  be,  Mr.  Field,  but  you  may  not 
have  been  worth  any  more  than  that  then.  ’ 

‘ ‘ ‘ Ah-ah-hum-hum-we  can  get  plenty  of  boys 
in  here  whose  fathers  would  be  glad  to  have  them 
learn  the  business  without  pay.  You  must  real- 
ize you  are  in  a business  school.  Where  do  you 
spend  your  evenings  ? ’ 

‘ ‘ ‘ Mr.  Field,  when  I get  through  with  paying 
my  board  and  washing,  there  is  not  enough  left 
of  your  five  dollars  to  pay  street  car  fare  to  a 
park  concert.  Besides,  I am  so  tired  out  after 
hustling  and  sweating  here  all  day,  I haven’t  any 
inclination  to  go  any  where,  but  to  bed.  ’ 

“ ‘ Ha-ha, -he-he,-um-um,-ril  see  about  it. 
I’ll  call  the  head  of  the  dress  goods  department 
and  find  out  what  he  says  about  you,’  bowing 
me  out. 

“Later  in  the  day,  Mr.  Ray,  the  department 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


27 


manager,  said  that  I had  a good  deal  of  nerve  to 
talk  to  Mr.  Field  that  way,  but  he  raised  my  sal- 
ary to  eight  dollars  a week. 

“When  pay  day  came  round,  however,  the 
same  ten  dollar  bill  for  two  weeks  work  was  in 
my  envelope,  and  nothing  else.  Mr.  Ray  said  it 
must  have  been  a mistake — to  see  the  paymaster 
about  it.  I did  so,  but  he  did  not  know  anything 
about  any  change  in  my  pay. 

“ ‘ Well,  I’ll  see  Mr.  Field.  I say  he  raised  my 
salary  a week  ago  to  eight  dollars  a week.  ’ 

“ ‘But  he  has  sailed  for  Europe.  See  Mr.  Fair 
about  it.’ 

“Mr.  Fair  did  not  know  anything  about  it, 
and  he  called  Mr.  Ray,  and  was  advised  that  I 
must  wait  till  Mr.  Field  returned,  and  then  the 
back  pay  would  be  given  me. 

“ ‘That’s  all  right,’  I said,  ‘but  I am  depend- 
ing on  it  to  live  on,  and  must  have  it.’ 

“ Finally  one  of  Mr.  Field’s  private  secretaries 
was  seen,  and  the  memo  authorizing  the  advance 
was  found,  and  I was  happy.  But  I am  getting 
off  my  subject,  Doctor.  I was  going  to  tell  you 
about  losing  my  stamp  collection.  Well,  I stayed 
in  Marshall  Field’s  for  three  years;  my  salary 


28 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


was  advanced  several  times,  bat  my  health,  from 
a lung  trouble,  finally  gave  out,  and  I was  obliged 
to  seek  ranch  life  in  Wyoming.  I was  out  there 
for  a year,  living  and  sleeping  in  the  open  air. 
Of  course  I had  my  stamps  with  me,  although 
since  entering  business  in  1880  I had  not  touched 
them,  and  there  wasn’t,  therefore,  any  stamps  in 
the  collection  issued  since  that  date.  Late  that  Fall 
I was  in  the  valley  of  the  Big  Horn  in  northern 
Wyoming,  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  from  the 
nearest  railroad,  working  on  a horse  ranch.  The 
residents  of  Big  Horn  City,  our  nearest  postoffice, 
got  up  a fair,  the  first  ever  held  in  Wyoming 
Territory.  I thought  of  my  old  stamp  collection 
as  being  something  to  exhibit,  and  when  the 
diplomas  were  passed  round  after  the  show,  1 
received  first  prize  for  a collection  of  stamps  from 
all  over  the  world.  The  reason  I came  first,  I 
think,  rested  in  the  fact  that  mine  was  the  only 
one  exhibited.  Anyhow,  to-day,  Doctor,  the  col- 
lection would  catalogue  many  hundreds  of  dollars. 
Soon  after  the  fair  I returned  to  Chicago  in  charge 
of  six  hundred  head  of  beeves,  leaving  six  head 
of  horses  1 owned,  and  my  trunk,  containing  all 
my  personal  effects,  as  well  as  the  stamp  album. 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


29 


I expected  to  have  returned  to  the  ranch,  but 
friends  advised  me  to  stay  East  during  the  winter, 
and  I concluded  to  do  so.  I sent  back  word  to 
forward  trunk  by  freight,  but  I got  no  answer, 
and  after  investigating,  found  that  the  ranchman 
had  sold  my  trunk  for  a song  to  a freighter,  who 
had  skipped  with  my  horses  and  other  property 
entrusted  to  him,  headed  towards  Montana. 

‘ ‘ I tried  every  way,  Doc. , to  get  some  trace  of 
my  property,  especially  the  contents  of  the  old 
trunk,  but  without  success,  and  my  treasured 
stamps  were  probably  dumped  into  the  creek  with 
other  papers,  etc.,  as  being  of  no  apparent  value. ” 


CHAPTER  III. 


STAMP  COLLECTING  AT  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

“You  look  down  in  the  gills.  What  is  the 
matter  with  you?  J.  & J.  and  Bauer  & Black 
selling  all  the  plasters?  ” 

‘ ‘ No,  Doc.  Business  is  all  right.  I am  having 
a good  trade,  but  I am  in  hard  luck.  I lost  two 
hundred  dollars  last  week.” 

“Well,  that’s  too  bad.  How  did  it  happen? 
Playing  up  against  a little  poker  game?  ” 

“Not  on  your  life.  When  I left  you  three 
months  ago,  I worked  down  the  Big  Four,  and 
while  in  Olney  discovered  sixty  boxes  of  Hum- 
phrey’s pills,  each  having  a two  cent  rouletted 
proprietary  cataloguing  five  dollars  apiece.  The 
druggist  seemed  satisfied  with  an  exchange  of  a 
dozen  porous  plasters  for  the  stamps,  but  I was 
in  a hurry  to  get  my  train  for  St.  Louis  and  only 
took  time  to  sponge  off  a half  a dozen  of  them, 
leaving  the  balance.  Well,  I swung  around  there 
last  week  on  purpose  to  get  the  stamps  and  found 
my  friend,  the  druggist,  much  elated  over  the 

30 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


31 


fact  that  while  he  was  out  one  day  lately  a fellow 
came  in  and  bought  from  the  clerk  the  whole  lot 
of  them,  paying  the  full  retail  price  of  fifty  cents 
apiece,  pills  and  all. 55 

“By  Gorry,  that  was  too  bad.  Who  was  it, 
Gurley  ? ” 

“No,  it  wasn’t  Gurley.  He  doesn’t  have  to  buy 
old  pills  and  medicines  just  to  get  the  stamps. 
His  limit  for  a lot  is  about  twenty-five  cents. 
Sometimes  on  a large  number  of  rare  stamps  I 
have  known  him  to  go  as  high  as  fifty  cents,  but 
it  isn’t  often.  I think  it  was  a chap  that  travels 
for  a New  York  cloak  house.  He  is  a medicine 
stamp  fiend  of  the  most  rabid  kind.  He  skates 
into  drug  stores  and  calls  off  a list  of  old  medi- 
cines and  pills,  and  if  the  druggist  has  them,  the 
stamp,  if  found  in  good  condition,  is  worth  a 
great  deal  more  than  the  article.  He  then  makes 
an  offer  for  the  lot,  takes  the  stamps  off  and 
makes  the  druggist  a present  of  his  medicine 
back  again.  He  got  one  on  me  in  Decatur  last 
summer  in  West’s  drug  store,  opposite  the  St. 
Nicholas  Hotel.  I thought  I had  swiped  every- 
thing off  of  any  account,  but  this  fellow  found 
three  dozen  old  porous  plasters  with  the  Demas 


32' 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


Barnes  stamp  cataloguing  a dollar  and  a quarter, 
and  bought  the  old  plasters  at  ten  cents  each.  I 
therefore  think  this  was  the  same  chap.  Anyhow, 
I am  not  losing  so  much.  This  druggist  in  Olney 
took  pity  on  me  and"  dug  up  a half  dozen  boxes 
of  M.  A.  Simmon’s  pills  of  luka,  Miss.,  each 
having  a strip  of  four  stamps  cataloguing  two 
dollars  a stamp,  and  we  swapped  even  stamps  for 
corn  plasters.” 

“ So  I see;  your  two  hundred  dollars  you  lost 
is  not  so  bad  after  all.  What  else  have  you  found? 
any  six  cent  orange  proprietaries?  ” 

“Not  yet,  Doctor,  but  I am  on  the  lookout  all 
the  time.  I’ll  land  one  some  day.  ” 

“I  hope  so,  but  I am  getting  stuck  on  this 
stamp  collecting  myself.  I sent  for  a Scott’s 
catalogue  the  other  day,  and  a mixed  revenue 
packet,  and  have  them  in  an  old  scrap  book  till  I 
know  what  kind  of  an  album  to  get.  Your  speak- 
ing of  this  druggist  in  Olney  getting  fooled  by 
your  stamp  fiends  so,  reminds  me  of  one  on  me,  a 
good  cigar  story,  but  this  was  a dead  open  and 
shut  swindle  and  I only  tell  it  to  show  you  how 
the  best  of  us  will  get  taken  in  once  in  a while. 

“Well,  along  last  fall  a fellow,  came  along  here 


STAMP  HUNTING, 


33 


and  came  into  my  drug  store  and  introduced  him- 
self as  a lawyer  on  his  way  to  California  to  spend 
the  winter.  He  was  faultlessly  dressed,  wore  an 
expensive  silk  lined  overcoat,  a diamond  pin  on 
an  immaculate  shirt  front,  tan  colored  gloves, 
plug  hat,  etc.  Altogether  he  was  the  sprucest 
looking  duck  that  ever  came  down  the  pike  and, 
like  you,  was  an  amusing  kind  of  a cuss.  I like  a 
good  smoke  as  well  as  anyone,  and  when  he  of- 
fered me  one  of  his  fragrant  Havanas,  I readily 
accepted  it.  ‘Now,’  he  says,  d am  not  selling 
anything,  but  I am  placed  in  a rather  peculiar 
position.  To  make  a long  story  short,  I am  as- 
signee for  Smith  and  Jones,  manufacturers  of 
fine  cigars,  who  failed  some  time  ago  in  Phila- 
delphia. Previous  to  their  failure,  they  had  con- 
signed to  themselves  to  a number  of  cities 
throughout  the  West,  from  five  to  ten  thousand 
of  the  same  kind  of  cigars  that  we  are  now  smok- 
ing. The  court,  however,  ruled  that  they  be- 
longed to  me  for  the  benefit  of  the  creditors.  As 
a matter  of  fact  there  are  ten  thousand  of  these 
cigars  down  to  the  freight  depot  here  in  Punkville 
— at  least  I understand  so,  but  it  is  possible 
that  the  cigars  may  be  an  inferior  grade  and  not 


34 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


worth  anything  to  speak  of,  still,  I don’t  want  to 
re-ship  them  around  the  country  and  would  like 
to  have  you  make  some  kind  of  an  offer  for  them.  ’ 
Ten  thousand  fine  cigars  would  last  me  over  two 
years,  and  I didn’t  think  I could  use  so  many  at 
any  price.  ‘ Anyhow,  ’ said  the  fellow,  ‘ let  me 
have  them  wheeled  in  here  and  we  will  open  them 
up  and  see  what  they  look  like.  There  may  be 
some  fake  about  it  and,  as  I say,  may  not  be 
worth  anything  to  you  or  anybody  else.’  He 
went  out  and  in  a half  hour’s  time  returned  with 
an  expressman  with  the  case  of  cigars.  We 
knocked  the  lid  off  and  the  box  he  picked  out  and 
opened  were  the  same  kind  that  we  were  smoking 
and  worth  at  least  sixty  dollars  a thousand.  He 
wished  that  I would  take  them  off  his  hands  as  he 
did  not  want  to  re-ship  and  truck  them  around  the 
country.  I asked  him  his  price  and  terms  and  he 
replied:  ‘I  tell  you  what  I’ll  do;  I’ve  got  money 
enough — you  give  me  a note  for  $250  for  the  ten 
thousand  cigars,  $25  a thousand,  for  one  year; 
and  I’ll  make  an  agreement  with  you  to  take  back 
all  unsold  at  full  purchase  price  at  the  end  of 
that  time.  ’ I accepted  the  proposition  and  started 
to  make  out  the  note  when  the  chap  commenced 


* 

STAMP  HUNTING. 


35 


to  tell  me  how  he  would  get  for  me  and  my  fam- 
ily railroad  passes  to  California  and  back,  etc., 
etc.,  and  I became  a little  suspicious.  I excused 
myself  a minute  and  directed  my  clerk  to  take  an 
unopened  box  in  the  case  over  to  a cigar  factory 
across,  the  street  and  get  their  opinion  on  what  it 
was  worth.  In  the  meantime  I busied  myself 
with  a prescription.  The  boy  soon  returned  and 
pronounced  the  cigars  worth  about  $8  a thousand, 
and  I could  see  myself  that  they  were  made  of 
the  cheapest  kind  of  tobacco  possible.  My  f riend 
was  out  in  front,  but  I decided  not  to  let  on  about 
it.  I simply  said  to  him  that  I could  not  go  into 
the  deal,  that  I found  I had  more  cigars  than  I 
thought  I had.  He  must  have  suspected  that  I 
had  tumbled  to  the  fake,  but  he  did  not  show  it. 
He  was  sorry  that  I should  pass  such  a rare  cigar 
bargain.  He  nailed  up  the  case  and  said  he  would 
send  an  expressman  around  for  the  box.  Well, 
sir,  would  you  believe  me;  that  fellow  took  those 
cigars  back  to  the  depot,  went  into  the  druggist’s 
on  the  corner,  gave  them  the  same  song  and 
dance  and  his  worthless  contract,  and  came  out 
with  their  note  for  $250,  for  which  the  bank 
gave  him  $225  in  cash,  skipped  out  on  the  first 


36 


STA.MP  HUNTING. 


train  over  $125  ahead,  and  my  neighbors  now 
have  to  pay  $250  for  a lot  of  truck  cigars  that 
they  won’t  get  $100  out  of  if  they  ever  sell  them 
at  all.” 

“ Pretty  tough  on  your  neighbors,  but  I have 
heard  of  that  fellow  before.  He  has  worked  the 
same  game  in  a number  of  places  through  Illinois. 
I heard  of  him  last  in  Paris,  in  the  western  part 
of  the  state,  but  the  druggist  suspected  some- 
thing wrong  in  time.  It  is  funny,  Doc. , how  that 
note  act  is  still  worked  all  over  the  country.  Your 
story  reminds  me  of  a case  that  happened  up  here 
near  Dixon,  early  last  spring.  A wealthy  farmer 
living  not  far  from  town  was  rounding  up  his 
stock  one  night,  when  he  heard  a great  noise  and 
hulabaloo  out  in  the  street  opposite  the  house. 
Investigating,  he  found  a couple  of  fellows  seem- 
ingly stalled  in  the  mud,  with  a big  piano  looking 
box  in  the  wagon.  One  of  them  asked  the  farmer 
if  he  could  pull  in  and  leave  their  piano  in  his  barn 
till  the  roads  were  better;  so  they  could  get 
through  to  a certain  party  three  miles  distant. 
‘ Certainly,  ’ replied  the  farmer,  ‘ wheel  her  in. 
The  roads  are  worse  over  the  hill  and  you’re  wel- 
come to  leave  it  here  till  they  dry  up.  ’ 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


37 


“It  was  a pre-arranged  scheme.  They  put  the 
piano  in  the  barn  all  right,  had  supper  with  the  old 
man,  and  were  ready  to  drive  back  to  Dixon  four 
miles,  when  one  of  the  fellows  said,  ‘ Now  Mr. 
Farmer,  we  appreciate  your  kindness,  and  we 
have  no  doubt  of  your  honesty,  but  in  case  any- 
thing happens  to  us,  we  want  our  firm  to  have 
something  to  show  where  their  property  is.  You, 
of  course,  don’t  object  to  signing  a little  receipt, 
stating  you  have  it?  ’ 

“‘No,  certainly  not,’  replied  the  farmer,  and 
he  readily  signed  what  seemed  to  be  a receipt  for 
a piano  valued  at  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 
The  men  drove  away,  and  three  months  after,  the 
Dixon  National  Bank  notified  our  friend  that  his 
note  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  would  fall 
due  the  following  week,  for  a piano  which  proved 
to  be  a rattle  trap  of  an  affair  worth  not  more 
than  fifty  dollars.  I should  think,  Doctor,  that 
people  would  tumble  to  such  schemes,  but  we  hear 
of  them  every  day.  They  say  that  a new  fool  is 
born  every  minute.” 

“ I guess  that’s  right.  We  get  them  in  here 
every  day  with  some  fake  or  another.  But,  to  re- 
turn to  stamps,  what  would  you  advise  me  to  col- 


88 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


lect  ? As  you  have  said  there  are  so  many  new 
issues  coming  up  all  the  time  in  postage  stamps, 
and  shades  and  varieties  of  shades,  etc. , I am  a 
little  at  sea  just  where  to  draw  the  line.55 

“ I should  say  start  in  on  the  United  States 
revenues  including  the  document  varieties,  and 
when  you  get  those  practically  complete,  take  up 
Canadian  revenues.  These  latter  stamps  are 
very  beautiful  and  interesting  and  will  constantly 
increase  in  value,  particularly  the  Canada  bill 
stamps.  These  were  issued  in  the  early  sixties 
when  Canada  was  young  and  of  little  importance. 
Few  of  these  stamps  were  issued  and  as  new  col- 
lections are  coming  in  every  day  their  price  is 
bound  to  advance.  Start  in  on  the  cheapest 
match  and  medicine  stamps.  Confine  your  col- 
lection at  first  to  only  one  paper  of  a kind,  and 
gradually  increase  it  as  they  come  your  way  by 
exchanging  with  other  collectors,  buying  and 
finding  them.  Aside  from  the  great  pleasure  you 
will  soon  find  in  collecting,  you  couldn’t  invest 
your  money  better  than  in  this  class  of  stamps. 
They  will  constantly  increase  in  value.  They 
don’t  take  up  much  room  and  there  are  no  taxes 
to  pay  on  them.  Be  careful,  though,  in  getting 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


39 


only  perfect  specimens.  A slightly  torn  or  in  any 
way  damaged  stamp,  unless  it  is  very  rare  indeed, 
as  I have  told  you  before,  is  of  no  market  value, 
and  it  is  a great  deal  better  to  pay  more  for  an 
evenly  centered  perfect  stamp,  for  if  you  ever 
want  to  sell  your  collection,  damaged  or  imper- 
fect stamps  hurt  the  value  of  it.  Better  pay  full 
catalogue  price  for  a perfect  stamp  than  one  quar- 
ter catalogue  for  a damaged  one.  Years  ago 
condition  wasn’t  hardly  considered;  anything  went. 
If  a stamp  was  a little  torn  or  discolored  or  heavily 
cancelled,  its  value  wasn’t  so  much  hurt  by  it. 
Collectors  took  them  in,  but  nowadays,  condition 
is  everything.  You  say  you  sent  for  Scott’s 
catalogue.  That  is  the  standard,  and  although  it 
has  its  defects  and  imperfections,  it  reflects  the 
actual  condition  of  the  market  value  of  the  stamps, 
allowing  about  fifty  per  cent,  off  on  the  average. 

u Of  course  there  are  many  stamps  that  cannot 
be  obtained  at  full  listed  price,  but  there  are  many 
also  that  are  catalogued  too  high,  and  are  slow 
sellers  even  at  half  catalogue.  Fashion  chancres 
in  stamp  collecting  as  in  everything  else,  and 
where  it  may  be  at  this  time  all  the  rage  to  col- 
lect the  Spanish  West  Indies,  Philippine  Islands, 


40 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


revenue  and  match  and  medicine  stamps,  another 
season  may  see  some  other  countries  more  in  favor. 
Therefore,  the  prices  listed  in  the  catalogue  are 
bound  to  fluctuate,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  you 
see  all  dealers  advertise  stamps  at  various  dis- 
counts, from  10  to  60  per  cent.  The  makers  of 
Scott  catalogue  receive  all  manner  of  criticisms, 
more  or  less  harsh,  as  to  the  prices  they  compile 
from  year  to  year,  but  when  one  considers  how 
impossible  it  is  to  anticipate  what  the  demand  for 
certain  stamps  will  be,  the  possible  large  finds  of 
some  rare  stamps,  or  remainders  in  postoffices 
showing  up,  etc. , it  is  surprising  to  me  that  there 
are  no  more  mistakes  and  errors  than  there  really 
are.  As  Mr.  Luff,  the  leading  compiler  of  the 
catalogue  says,  4 Criticism  is  so  much  easier  than 
productions.  The  man  who  never  raises  any 
crops  of  his  own  has  usually  a well-developed 
talent  for  leaning  over  the  garden  gate  and  point- 
ing out  the  small  potatoes  in  his  neighbor’s  har- 
vest. 5 Like  the  student  who  said  it  was  easy 
enough  to  make  Proverbs  like  Solomon  did: 
‘Quite  right,  Mr.  Student,  but  just  make  a few.’  ” 
“Yes,  it  is  like  the  successful  business  man  in 
the  community.  The  unsuccessful  always  rise  up 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


41 


to  find  criticism  and  fault.  It  would  seem  that 
most  people  know  how  to  run  every  other  business 
but  their  own.” 

4 4 That  is  about  right,  Doctor,  and  it  is  a hard 
world  to  satisfy.  Like  the  story  of  the  jackass, 
the  old  man  and  the  little  boy;  you  can’t  please 
yourself  and  everybody  else.  For  getting  his 
hair  cut  Samson  got  into  trouble,  and  for  not 
getting  it  cut  Absolom  got  into  trouble  too,  but 
you  will  never  get  into  trouble  collecting  stamps, 
Doc.  In  fact  your  troubles  and  worries  of  life 
will  then  be  forgotten.” 

4 4 1 hope  so ; I need  something  to  compensate 
for  the  ceaseless  drudging  and  dissatisfaction  of 
the  drug  business.  ” 


CHAPTER  IV. 


A BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  THE  MATCH  AND  MEDICINE 
STAMP. 

“ You  were  going  to  tell  me  more  about  the 
history  of  these  medicine  and  proprietary  stamps 
when  you  got  round  again.  I am  not  busy  to-day 
and  I am  now  a full-fledged  stamp  fiend,  and  want 
to  know  all  I can  about  stamps,  especially  the 
United  States  revenues.  By  the  way,  there  was 
a fellow  along  here  last  week  representing  Hum* 
iston,  Keeling  & Co.,  of  Chicago.  Says  you 
bought  thousands  of  stamps  of  them,  but  you  had 
to  take  the  pills  in  order  to  get  the  stamps.  How 
did  you  take  them,  internally  ? ” 

“ Not  all  at  once,  Doc.,  but  that  was  a deal  I 
didn’t  make  very  much  on,  although  I didn’t  lose 
anything.  This  firm  makes  it  a business  of  buy- 
ing up  and  trading  for  old  pills  and  patent  med- 
icine, and  in  this  way  gather  a lot  of  old  stuff  hav- 
ing stamps.  I looked  over  the  lot  they  had  in 
stock  and  made  an  offer  of  taking  everything  at 
one  cent  apiece,  just  as  they  come,  but  I would 

42 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


43 


never  have  made  it  if  I had  known  Mr.  Keeling 
had  a Scott’s  catalogue  in  his  desk,  and  a son  a 
stamp  fiend.  The  rarities,  of  course,  were  all 
taken  out  beforehand;  still,  a number  of  good 
things  escaped,  for  I found  quite  a few  rouletted 
proprietaries  and  a one  cent  inverted  medallion  of 
the  1871  issue,  worth  about  fifteen  dollars.  This 
is  a very  rare  stamp  in  good  condition. 

6 ‘But  going  back  to  the  history  of  the  stamps.  In 
September,  1 8 6 2,  the  first  adhesive  stamp  tax  became 
a law.  Under  its  provisions  any  manufacturer  of 
playing  cards  or  patent  medicines,  or  anything 
containing  a secret  or  private  formula,  could  have 
their  own  design  or  die  made  for  the  revenue 
stamp,  to  be  used  by  them  exclusively,  provided  the 
design  was  approved  by  the  government  and  at  the 
manufacturer’s  expense.  At  first  there  were  not 
many  that  took  advantage  of  it.  The  great  civil 
strife  had  by  this  time  nearly  paralyzed  the  main 
industries  of  the  country,  and  many  preferred  to 
buy  the  regular  issue  and  surcharge  them,  or 
write  or  stamp  their  name  or  trade  mark  over  the 
stamp.  The  thirty-eighth  Congress  on  June 
30th,  1864,  passed  another  internal  revenue  act, 
to  be  in  force  from  August  1st  of  that  year. 


44 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


This  law  increased  some  of  the  duties,  abolished 
others  and  made  many  minor  changes.  The  tax 
on  medicines  remained  the  same  as  in  the  original 
act,  which  was: 

Where  the  retail  price  was  25c  or  less . . lc. 


Over  25c  and  not  more  than  50c 2c. 

Over  50c  and  not  more  than  75c 3c. 

Over  7 5c  and  not  more  than  $1 4c. 

For  every  50c  or  fractional  part 

thereof,  over  and  above  $1 2c. 


‘ ‘ There  was  besides  this  an  addition  covering 
matches,  requiring  on  any  package  containing  one 
hundred  matches  or  less,  a one  cent  stamp,  and 
for  every  additional  one  hundred  matches  or  less, 
one  cent.  The  special  die  privileges  were  also 
extended  to  the  match  manufacturers,  and  by  this 
time  the  many  firms,  seeing  a permanent  and 
prominent  advertisement  in  their  special  stamps, 
took  advantage  of  it.  The  income  from  this 
source,  with  all  the  other  internal  revenue  taxa- 
tion, was  enormous,  the  government  collecting  for 
the  year  ending  June  30th,  1866,  over  three 
hundred  million  dollars.  During  that  year  there 
was  a change  in  the  schedule,  where  playing  cards, 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


45 


which  heretofore  were  taxed  according  to  their 
selling  price,  now  had  a uniform  stamp  of  five 
cents  per  pack. 

“An  addition  was  also  made  at  this  time  taxing 
canned  goods,  but  was  not  in  operation  long, 
owing  to  the  difficulty  in  collecting  it.  Kensett 
& Co.,  canners,  of  Baltimore,  were  the  only  firm 
taking  advantage  of  the  special  die  privileges, 
and  that  is  the  reason,  Dr.  Bailey,  you  find  that 
stamp  worth  fully  the  price  the  Scott  Stamp  & 
Coin  Co.  catalogue  it,  fifteen  dollars. 

“Use  of  specified  paper  in  the  manufacture  of 
stamps  commenced  in  1876.  The  first  distinct 
variety,  other  than  various  minor  kinds  of  thin 
hard  paper,  catalogued  as  “old  paper,”  was  silk 
paper,  containing  silken  threads  similar  to  our 
paper  money.  Early  in  the  year  1877  a wove 
paper  of  pink  color  was  experimented  with,  but  not 
with  the  apparent  success  that  was  claimed  for  it,  for 
in  1878  the  department  adopted  another  white 
paper,  this  time  water  marked,  the  capital  letters 
U.  S.  I.  K.,  ingrained  into  the  texture  of  the 
paper.  There  was  therefore,  four  distinct  papers 
used:  old  paper  consisting  of  a thin  hard  paper, 
eilken,  pinked  and  water  marked,  and  you  can 


46 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


readily  see  why  some  stamps  of  the  same  appear- 
ance to  one  not  knowing  or  interested,  are  at 
variance  with  each  other  as  to  their  value;  the 
pink  being  more  rare  than  the  others  as  a rule, 
owing  to  fewer  issues  of  that  particular  paper. 
On  July  1st,  1883,  an  act  went  into  effect  abol- 
ishing the  tax  on  all  duties  for  which  the  private 
stamps  were  issued. 

“As  every  manufacturer  having  his  own 
special  stamp  wanted  to  be  different  from  anyone 
else,  either  in  design,  color  or  size,  a collection  of 
these  stamps  must  therefore,  afford  a very  inter- 
esting study.  Patriotism  at  that  time  was  ram- 
pant and  many  of  the  stamps  had  designs  of  the 
flag,  the  stars  and  stripes,  Liberty,  American 
eagle,  the  clasping  hands,  etc.  t The  pine  tree  of 
the  Orono  Match  Co.,  of  Orono,  Maine;  the  vol 
cano  on  the  Pierce  Match  Co. ; the  rooster  on  the 
Eisenhart  matches;  the  bear  on  the  Thos.  Allen 
issues,  and  the  deer  on  those  of  W.  D.  Curtis,  of 
Oshkosh,  Wisconsin,  and  many  others  are  more 
or  less  unique  and  historical. 

“The  original  dies  of  all  these  stamps  have 
been  destroyed,  and  you  can  therefore  readily 
understand,  with  the  constant  decreasing  supply 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


47 


and  increase  in  collectors,  that  the  stamps  are 
bound  to  steadily  go  up  in  price,  more  par- 
ticularly the  match  stamps.  Stamped  medicines 
and  pills,  as  you  can  see  Doc. , are  still  kept  in 
many  drug  stores  for  possible  calls,  but  I never 
have  found  but  very  few  matches  stamped,  the 
latter  being  used  up  and  not  carried  from  year  to 
year  as  dead  stock  in  the  store.  But  there  will 
come  a time  when  all  the  old  medicine  stamps 
caused  by  the  great  civil  strife  will  have  disap- 
peared from  the  drug  stores,  and  you  and  me 
and  other  collectors  having  them  will  be  the  only 
sources  where  they  can  be  found.  So  I am  digging 
through  the  drug  stocks  in  my  travels  as  fast  as  I 
can  for  these  old  stamps — can  you  wonder  at  it?  ” 
“No,  and  you  have  an  exceptionally  good 
opportunity  of  finding  them,  and  with  no  expense 
getting  round.  Which  is  the  rarest  of  all  the  pri- 
vate proprietaries  ? You  said  the  six  cent  orange 
proprietary  was  worth  thirty-five  dollars.  Is  any 
match  or  medicine  stamp  worth  more  than  that  ?” 
“Yes,  I should  say  so.  There  are  many  worth 
many  times  that.  The  Caterson  Brotz  & Co., 
five  cent  playing  card  stamp  is  probably  the  rar- 
est, and,  though  unpriced  by  Scott  it  is  safe  to 


48 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


put  down  its  value  at  two  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars. There  are  only  two  known,  and  I doubt  if 
this  sum  would  buy  one  of  them.  This  firm 
ordered  their  special  die  just  before  the  repeal  of 
the  act,  and  several  thousand  of  the  stamps  were 
struck  off,  but  they  did  not  use  them  and  were  all 
destroyed  save  two.  The  Thos.  E.  Wilson  four 
cent  black  is  also  a rare  stamp.  Scott  catalogues 
it  at  two  hundred  dollars,  but  cannot  supply  it  at 
that  price.  I never  saw  but  one  copy  of  it,  in  the 
Yanderlip  collection  in  Boston,  and  it  is  the  only 
one  known,  although  it  is  not  certain  but  that 
there  are  a few  more.  The  reason  the  stamp  is 
so  rare,  Dr.  Wilson’s  partner  objected  to  it,  and 
a quarrel  between  the  two  partners  resulted. 
The  doctor,  in  a fit  of  anger,  went  to  the  safe  and 
thrust  all  the  stamps  into  the  stove,  and  not  more 
than  half  a dozen  copies  escaped. 

“The  Rock  Island  stamp  of  the  American 
Match  Company  is  a very  rare,  probably  the 
rarest,  of  all  the  match  stamps,  not  over  eight 
copies  of  it  being  accounted  for.  My  friend, 
Mr.  J.  A.  Pierce,  one  of  the  old-time  dealers  of 
Chicago,  obtained  one  of  these  stamps  for  a cent. 
Years  ago  a fellow  came  into  his  place  of  busi- 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


49 


ness  with  an  album  containing  a general  collec- 
tion, and  said  he  wanted  to  sell  a sheet  of 
revenues  in  the  back  part  of  the  book.  Mr. 
Pierce  was  busy  at  the  time,  too  busy  to  pay  par- 
ticular attention  to  the  stamps,  but  asked  him 
what  he  wanted  for  them,  to  which  the  boy  re- 
plied ‘a  dollar.’  The  dealer  wasn’t  long  in 
plumking  the  ‘ wheel,’  though  he  did  not  discover 
till  after  the  boy  had  gone  that  the  lot  of  one 
hundred  stamps  not  only  contained  this  rare 
match  stamp,  but  others  worth  a great  deal  of 
money.  Many  of  these  match  and  medicine 
stamps  are  listed  altogether  too  high,  but  there 
are  more  catalogued  too  low.  In  my  opinion, 
all  stamps  on  pink  paper  are  worth  more  in  com- 
parison to  their  listed  price  than  the  other  papers. 
Only  about  fifteen  copies  of  the  F.  Browm  on  pink 
are  known,  and  as  there  are  thousands  of  collec- 
tors after  it,  its  price  should  be  more  than  thirty- 
five  dollars.  The  J.  J.  Macklin  match  stamp  is 
catalogued  sixty  dollars,  but  no  dealer  can  supply 
it.  I doubt  if  more  than  ten  copies  of  this  stamp 
exists.  The  four  cent  J.  C.  Ayer  red  is  a stamp 
unpriced  by  Scott,  but  worth  seventy-five  dollars. 
There  is  also  a four  cent  lilac  of  this  stamp,  also 


50 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


a four  cent  green,  but  many  doubt  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  color,  though  the  lilac  shade  is  no 
doubt  genuine,  and  well  worth  the  price  a Mr. 
Phelps  paid  for  it,  one  hundred  dollars. 

“Mr.  Farnsworth  of  Portland,  Maine,  has  the 
eight  cent  James  Swain  uncut  on  silk,  uncata- 
logued and  the  only  one  known,  and  also  has  many 
others,  not  listed  by  Scott.  The  Powell  match 
wrapper,  entire,  is  a very  rare  stamp,  and  its 
catalogued  price,  fifty  dollars,  cannot  procure  it. 
This  stamp  wrapper  has  been  seen  in  two  differ- 
ent sizes,  but  both  are  among  the  rarest  of  the 
private  proprietaries,  particularly  when  complete 
and  not  cut  to  shape.  I am  told  the  four  cent 
J.  B.  Kelly  and  Company  exists  perforated,  as 
well  as  the  one  and  six  cent  Schencks’  on  pink 
paper.  The  Woodworth  one  cent  perfumery 
stamp  on  silk  paper  exists  unperforated,  and  there 
are  also  unperforated  copies  of  the  one  cent  Her- 
rick’s plasters  on  old  as  well  as  water  marked  paper. 

“Mr.  E.  B.  Sterling,  for  years  the  leading 
authority  on  these  stamps,  listed  a one  cent  blue, 
Young,  Ladd  & Coffin  perfumery  stamp,  but  Scott 
fails  to  do  so.  There  is  such  a stamp,  however. 
The  Bousfield  & Poole  match  stamp  comes  in  two 


STAMP  HUOTIKG. 


51 


distinct  shades.  Only  about  three  of  the  one  cent 
red  Ayer  exists;  Mr.  Jonas  D.  Rice  has  one  of  them 
and  the  other  two  probably  rest  in  the  Deats  and 
Adenaw  collections.  The  R.  Y.  Pierce,  on  old 
paper,  is  only  catalogued  $5,  but  is  worth  many 
times  the  price.  Many  doubt  its  existence,  as  it 
is  impossible  to  find  a copy  at  the  present  time. 
Mr.  Sterling  catalogued  it  and  is  positive  it  was 
issued.  The  two  cent  rose  on  water  marked 
paper  is  another  doubtful  stamp  and  should  be 
catalogued  twenty-five  times  the  price.  Mr. 
Adenaw  said  he  had  a copy  of  the  four  cent  His- 
cox  & Co. , on  water  marked  paper  and  it  is  prob- 
ably the  only  copy  known  as  no  one  else  has  ever 
seen  one. 

“Up  to  1895  the  Standard  catalogue  listed  a, 
one  cent  red  Jock  & Wilner  match  stamp.  No> 
such  firm  ever  was  in  business  and  was  a fake 
issue  foisted  onto  collectors  by  a New  York 
engraving  outfit,  who  issued  only  a few  copies 
and  sold  them  at  very  high  prices.  There  have 
been  one  or  two  counterfeits  of  match  stamps,  one 
in  particular  was  an  imitation  of  B.  & H.  D. 
Howard..  The  government  $oon  discovered  a 
falling  off  in  the  Howard  orders)  and  investigating. 


52 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


they  discovered  a counterfeit  plate  in  the  hands 
of  the  Howard  company.  The  stamp  manufactur- 
ers were  arrested  on  the  charge  of  counterfeiting 

o o 

government  securities,  but  the  stamp  is  so  much 
scarcer  ‘ than  the  original,  that  a copy  ismore  val- 
uable than  the  genuine.  ’ 

‘ 1 A complete  history  of  these  stamps  as  well 
as  of  the  regular  proprietary  and  document  varie- 
ties is  in  preparation  by  a committee  appointed 
by  the  Boston  Philatelic  Society,  consisting  of 
Mr.  George  L.  Toppanof  Boston,  Mr.  Alexander 
Holland  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  Mr.  H.  E. 
Deats  of  Flemington,  N.  J.,  three  well  known 
philatelists  who  have  given  the  subject  careful 
study  and  are  thoroughly  posted.  Some  years 
ago  Mr.  Deats  purchased  of  Butler  & Carpenter, 
the  contractors  for  all  stamp  work  from  1862  to 
1875,  all  of  their  office  records,  thus  acquiring 
the  material  for  a very  elaborate  and  exhaustive 
treatise  on  this  subject. 

“A  copy  of  this  book  should  be  in  the  hands 
of  every  collector,  Doc. , who  appreciates  the  his- 
torical and  artistic  side  of  philately.” 

‘ 1 All  right,  when  you  get  round  again,  if  the 
work  is  out,  bring  in  a copy  and  I’ll  take  it.” 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  STAMP  DEALER. 

“ How  are  you  making  it  dealing  in  stamps? 

I notice  your  ads.  in  the  Philatelic  Era  I sub- 
scribed for  the  other  day.  They  sound  like  you, 
and  ought  to  bring  business.” 

“ So  they  do,  Doc.  They  are  written  to  sell 
stamps  and  they  do  sell  stamps.  It’s  as  much  as 
I can  do  to  take  care  of  the  mail  they  bring.” 
“Who  are  the  leading  dealers  in  stamps  for 
collections  in  the  country  ? I suppose  the  Scott 
Stamp  & Coin  Co.  take  the  lead  ?” 

“Yes,  they  are  the  largest  and  best  known  in 
this  country.  In  fact,  their  total  sales  are  prob- 
ably three  times  greater  than  any  other  dealer  in 
the  United  States,  and  now  aggregate  an  annual 
business  of  nearly  a quarter  of  a million  dollars. 
It  seems  almost  incredible  that  a such  a business 
could  be  created  and  maintained  out  of  stamps 
and  coins;  but  Stanley  Gibbons,  Ltd.,  of  London, 
England,  the  largest  in  the  world,  exceeds  even 

this  amount.  The  best  proof  that  stamp  collect- 
52 


64 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


ing  is  universal  and  is  constantly  spreading,  is 
found  in  the  enormous  increase  of  those  making 
a living  and  making  money  in  dealing  in  stamps. 
They  are  to  be  found  in  all  parts  of  the  world.” 

“The  first  dealer  in  the  United  States  was  a 
fellow  named  John  Bailey.  Along  in  the  year 
1860  he  opened  up  in  a corner  of  City  Hall  Park 
in  New  York.  Albums,  approval  books  and 
cards,  stock  books,  catalogues,  etc.,  were  un- 
known in  those  days,  and  the  number  of  varie- 
ties of  stamps  could  be  put  in  your  vest  pocket. 
His  method  of  display  and  sale,  was  to  nail  them 
or  tack  them  to  boards;  one  board  would  be  two 
for  a cent,  another  one  one  cent  a piece,  and  the 
highest  at  that  time  could  be  got  for  a quarter. 
Stamps  that  to-day  cannot  be  bought  for  twenty- 
five  dollars  cash. 

“ About  the  same  time  Mr.  William  Brown 
and  J.  W.  Scott  opened  up  in  New  York  as  deal- 
ers in  stamps.  They  w^ere  keen  business  men, 
and  to-day  you  will  find  them  doing  a large  and 
very  profitable  business  in  the  sale  of  stamps.  The 
J.  W.  Scott  Co. , as  it  is  now,  is  capitalized  for  over 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  and  its  stockholders  in- 
clude many  of  the  leading  collectors  of  the  coun- 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


55 


try.  During  the  thirty-five  years  that  Mr.  Scott 
has  been  in  the  stamp  business,  he  has  had  many 
interesting  stamp  experiences.  One  day  in  the 
early  seventies  a fellow  came  into  his  place  of 
business  with  a very  fair  collection  of  stamps  to 
sell.  Mr.  Scott  offered  him  four  hundred  dol. 
lars  for  it,  but  the  owner  would  not  take  it  and 
went  out.  A year  afterward  he  came  back  and 
wanted  an  offer  for  the  same  collection.  Mr. 
Scott  took  him  as  a complete  stranger,  but  as  his 
stock  was  largely  increased  and  business  very 
dull  at  the  time,  he  only  offered  two  hun- 
dred dollars  for  it,  which  was  indignantly  re- 
fused. A year  later  in  came  the  fellow  with  the 
same  collection  for  another  offer  for  it.  By  this 
time  the  stamps  were  more  in  demand  and  there 
were  some  in  the  lot  that  Mr.  Scott  was  anxious 
to  get.  Simply  as  a joke  he  offered  him  one  hun- 
dred dollars  for  the  collection,  expecting  to  hear 
all  kinds  of  language  in  reply.  To  his  great  sur- 
prise the  stranger  did  not  say  a word,  but  held 
out  his  hand  for  the  money  and  went  away  seem- 
ingly satisfied. 

“ Mr.  William  Brown  is  full  of  amusing  and  in- 
teresting stamp  stories,  gathered  during  his  nearly 


56 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


forty  years  experience  in  stamps.  Some  other  time, 
Doctor,  I’ll  tell  you  more  about  this  veteran  dealer. 
He  first  sold  stamps  from  a street  stall  for  a few 
pennies,  and  you  can  readily  see  how  philately 
has  advanced  when  you  compare  the  way  things 
were  in  the  early  sixties  with  the  condition  of 
things  at  the  present  time.” 

“ Yes,  I should  say  there  was  an  improvement. 
But  speaking  of  New  York  dealers,  I noticed  an 
advertisement  of  a Mr.  E.  T.  Parker  and  have 
got  quite  a number  of  stamps  from  him  at  good 
discounts.  Do  you  know  him  ? ” 

“Yes,  I know  him  very  well.  When  last  in 
New  York  I had  the  pleasure  of  going  through 
his  immense  stock  of  stamps,  and  was  surprised 
at  the  quantity,  as  well  as  the  quality  of  what  he 
had,  particularly  in  the  match  and  medicine 
stamps.  Many  of  the  dealers  who  advertise  very 
largely,  myself  not  excluded,  carry  their  stocks 
around  in  their  pockets,  or  can  confine  it  to  one 
or  two  small  stock  books,  but  there  are  no  if s nor 
ands  about  Mr.  Parker’s  stock.  He  has  the 
stamps — not  only  his  desk  and  show  cases  full, 
but  three  mammoth  safes,  as  well  as  a heavy  re- 
serve stock  stored  away  in  safety  deposit  vaults. 


STAMP  HUKTIKG. 


57 


But  you  can  say  the  same  of  a number  of  other 
large  New  York  dealers,  as  it  is  in  this  city  you 
find  the  center  of  philatelic  interest  in  this 
country,  and  more  stamps  and  more  stamp  deal- 
ers than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  large  cities  put  to- 
gether, excluding  Boston. 

“J.  C.  Morgenthau  & Co.  on  Nassau  street, 
have  a very  extensive  stock,  especially  in  gilt 
edge  foreign  and  under  the  management  of  my 
former  Chicago  friend,  Mr.  E.  B.  Power,  do  a 
large  business  in  stamps.  They  recently  acquired 
the  large  stock  of  the  late  Henry  Gremmel. 

“Mr.  Krassa  does  one  of  the  largest  counter 
trades  in  Few  York,  and  makes  a specialty  of 
dealing  in  rarities. 

“The  Bogert  & Durbin  Co.  are  reliable  and 
well  known  dealers,  and  figure  prominently  in 
auction  sales,  their  catalogues  going  all  over  the 
world. 

“My  friend,  Mr.  M.  C.  Berlepsch,  is  a rising, 
up-to-date  dealer  in  New  York,  doing  business  at 
No.  2 West  14th  Street.  Up  to  a few  years  ago 
his  specialty  centered  on  the  old  German  states, 
and  only  let  up  when  there  was  nothing  more  to 
collect.  His  collection  now  consists  of  postage 


58 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


and  revenue  stamps  in  an  unused  condition,  and 
is  equalled  only  by  a few  either  in  this  county  or 
abroad.  As  a dealer  in  stamps,  he  is  widely 
known  and  an  extensive  advertiser,  and  an  authority 
on  United  States  revenues,  especially  the  match 
and  medicine  varieties.  His  stock  of  these  stamps 
ranks  among  the  very  first  and  when  you  have 
failed  to  find  what  you  want  in  this  line  else- 
where, Doc.,  try  him.  I would  also  advise  you 
to  get  one  of  his  albums  for  the  reception  of  these 
stamps  as  soon  as  he  gets  it  out.  It  is  prepared 
especially  and  exclusively  for  the  match  and  med- 
icine varieties,  and  is  something  very  much 
needed.  I am  waiting  for  one.  ” 

u All  right;  I am  glad  you  told  me  about  it.  I 
was  going  to  ask  you  if  there  was  any  special 
album  for  these  stamps  "on  the  market.  I sup- 
pose the  dealers  get  all  kinds  of  amusing  and 
cranky  letters  from  peculiar  people  in  this  busi- 
ness, both  in  wanting  to  sell  common  stamps  at  a 
high  price,  and  in  wanting  to  buy  rare  stamps  at 
a cheap  price,  and  all  sorts  of  foolish  questions  ?” 
“Yes,  Doctor,  I should  say  so.  Most  of  my 
business  is  done  by  mail,  in  fact  all  of  it,  and  un- 
like writing  my  drug  friends,  I hardly  know  who 


STAMP  HUNTING, 


59 


I am  corresponding  with  in  the  stamp  business. 
Like  the  yellow  fever,  this  stamp  disease  hits  all 
kinds  of  people.  I wrote  one  lame  duck  the 
other  day  to  ante  up  or  I would  draw  on  him. 
The  return  mail  brought  most  of  the  money  and 
a great  whine  and  howl  not  to  arrest  him,  that 
the  balance  would  come  in  a few  days,  evidently 
thinking  my  draft  would  draw  him  into  jail.  I 
have  been  telling  one  of  my  regular  customers  to 
‘ hustle  while  he  had  the  legs, 5 and  I found  out 
last  week  it  was  a young  lady  I have  been  telling 
to  hustle. 

“One  day  I was  in  my  office  at  208  Randolph 
Street,  Chicago,  when  a i Gazaba 5 looking  kind 
of  a chap  came  in,  with  an  air  like  one  whom  the 
the  world  owes  a favor  for  living,  and  just  de- 
manded five  dollars  for  the  commonest  kind  of 
one  and  two  cent  postage  stamps  and  a few  odds 
and  ends  in  envelope  stuff,  worth  at  a casual 
glance  about  five  cents.  I offered  him  fifty  cents, 
so  as  not  to  hurt  his  feelings,  and  he  went  away 
thinking  I was  a stingy  cuss,  because  his  sister 
got  five  dollars  for  one  stamp.  Well,  after  he 
had  gone  I looked  over  the  stuff,  and  was  about 
to  throw  it  in  the  waste  basket,  when  I discovered 


60 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


three  wide  die,  1853,  worth  about  six  dollars 
each.  I will  now  gladly  give  my  friend  the  dif- 
ference desired,  four  dollars  and  a half,  if  he  ever 
shows  up  again. 

“ One  day  a fellow  came  in  with  a far-away, 
vacant  look  in  his  eye,  and  a breath  that  would 
bore  a hole  through  Washington  Monument.  He 
proved  to  be  a cheap,  ten  cent  customer  of  mine 
from  a town  out  in  Iowa,  and  said  he  was  shy  five 
dollars  in  the  necessary  railway  fare  back  to 
spend  Thanksgiving  with  his  family.  T dug  up  a 
five  spot  and  he  went  away  with  joy  depicted  in 
his  countenance  and  happiness  in  his  gait,  saying 
he  would  return  me  the  money  immediately  on 
his  arrival  home.  I neglected  to  ask  the  gentle- 
man what  road  he  would  go  over,  and  possibly  he 
went  via  the  Klondike,  or  round  by  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  Perhaps  he  meant  next  Thanksgiv- 
ing. Anyhow,  Doc.,  my  mail  up  to  this  time 
has  failed  to  reveal  anything  that  looks  like  five 
dollars  from  the  gentleman.  Still,  like  the  little 
dog  with  his  tail  cut  short,  when  the  small  boy 
came  along  with  a tin  can  and  string  attached,  1 
have  something  to  be  thankful  for.  He  might 
have  touched  me  for  ten  dollars.  ” 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


61 


“Yes,  I suppose  you  would  have  given  him 
twenty  if  he  had  kicked  hard  enough  for  it.  So 
the  drug  business  is  not  the  only  line  that  is 
worked  by  these  traveling  buncoes?  I was  hit 
only  last  week  for  five  dollars  myself,  by  a cock 
and  bull  story,  similar  to  yours.  Who  are  the 
other  leading  stamp  dealers  in  the  country,  now 
that  you  are  on  the  subject  ? ” 

“In  Chicago,  P.  M.  Wrolseiffer  and  F.  N. 
Massoth,  Doc.,  are  the  the  two  best  known,  and 
do  the  largest  business.  You  have  already  had 
stamp  relations  with  Mr.  Wrolseiffer.  There  are 
other  dealers  who  have  larger  stocks,  and  make 
larger  sales  in  the  East,  but  there  are  none  more 
prompt  and  square  in  business  dealings  than  he. 
His  auction  sales  at  the  Great  Northern  hotel  have 
been  one  of  the  features  of  stamp  life  in  Chicago. 
In  this  special  business,  he  probably  takes  the 
lead  over  all  others,  and  it  is  no  uncommon  thing 
for  one  of  his  auctions  to  realize  thousands  of  dol- 
lars to  the  owner  of  the  stamps.  His  patented 
blank  album  and  approval  cards  have  an  enorm- 
ous sale,  and  are  the  best  yet  known  to  the  stamp 
collecting  public.  There  is  only  one  thing 
peculiar  about  him.  Up  to  a few  weeks  ago  I 


62 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


never  could  understand  his  great  antipathy  for 
certain  brands  of  well  known  soap.  When  he 
goes  East  to  the  conventions,  or  traveling  any- 
where, he  always  carries  his  own  private  soap, 
fearing  he  might  strike  some  hotel  with  no  other 
but  these  special  brands.  Recently,  I accidently 
discovered  the  cause  of  it.  Years  ago,  a young 
son  of  this  Chicago  millionaire  soap  maker  came 
into  his  office  and  wanted  thirty  dollars  worth  of 
stamps  on  credit.  Mr.  Wolseiffer  gave  them  to 
him,  but  failed  to  get  more  than  ten  dollars  out 
of  the  boy.  Finally  he  wrote  his  father  the  cir- 
cumstances, and  the  reply  read  something  like 
this:  ‘I  can  do  nothing  for  you;  my  son  is  a 
minor,  but  he  had  no  authority  from  me  to  buy 
your  stamps.5 

“Mr.  Massoth  does  a general  stamp  business 
reaching  all  over  the  world,  and  carries  a very  large 
stock  of  all  kinds.  No  matter  what  you  bring  in  to 
him  to  sell  in  the  way  of  stamps,  whether  it  is  a 
thousand  dollar  collection,  or  a bushel  basket  full 
of  the  commonest  kind,  he  is  ready  with  the  cash 
to  buy  anything  that  may  be  offered,  provided 
the  price  is  right.  He  has  connections  where  he 
can  dispose  of  anything  in  the  stamp  line. 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


63 


“Mr.  J.  A.  Pierce  is  one  of  the  old  timers  still 
in  business  in  Chicago.  When  he  first  went  into 
selling  stamps  in  the  early  seventies,  the  United 
States  departments  were  almost  as  common  as  the 
Columbian  stamps  are  now.  Ten  cents  was  all  he 
asked  for  a full  set  of  usecj  treasury,  now  catalo- 
gued nearly  seventeen  dollars.  Aset  of  executive 
now  is  worth  about  thirty  or  forty  dollars.  Fif- 
teen years  ago  Mr.  Pierce  bought  all  he  wanted 
at  seventy  cents  a set,  and  could  practically 
corner  the  market  on  these  stamps.  A son  of  the 
private  secretary  of  President  Grant  had  secured 
the  majority  of  them  and  wrote  the  stamp  dealer 
from  Dixon,  111.,  that  he  could  have  the  lot 
for  a very  low  price,  but  Mr.  Pierce  was  afraid 
to  buy  over  one  hundred  sets,  which  he  secured 
for  seventy  dollars,  now  cataloguing  six  thousand 
dollars. 

“C.  F.  Pothfuchs,  now  in  the  stamp  business 
in  Boston,  ranks  far  front  as  a leading  dealer  in 
stamps  for  collections.  There  is  no  question  but 
that  he  has  the  largest  stock  of  departments  in  the 
world.  Till  recently  his  stamp  business  was 
located  in  Washington.  He  well  anticipated  the 
great  rise  to  follow  in  all  kinds  of  the  United 


64  STAMP  HUNTING; 

States  varieties  and  years  ago  laid  in  an  immense 
stock  at  a very  low  price,  and  has  become  rich 
from  his  far-sightedness.  Generally  it  does  not 
take  much  of  a wagon  to  move  a stock  of  stamps, 
but  when  he  transferred  his  business  to  Boston, 
you  would  think  he  was  moving  a stock  of  dry 
goods  or  boots  and  shoes.  Trunk  after  trunk 
and  box  after  box  full  of  nothing  but  stamps, 
were  piled  up  onto  a big  dray,  and  still  it  had  to  go 
back  for  more.  There  is  no  telling  what  he  has 
in  his  possession,  but  when  a collector  is  in  doubt 
who  to  send  to  for  a certain  stamp,  the  answer  in- 
variably* is,  ‘ try  Rothfuchs.’ 

“The  New  England  Stamp  Co.  is  another  firm 
in  Boston  doing  an  immense  business.  That  they 
have  unlimited  resources  for  handling  valuable 
lots  of  stamps  was  proven  a short  time  ago  when 
the  celebrated  collection  of  Mr.  N.  C.  Nash,  of 
Boston,  was  placed  on  the  market  for  sale.  Mr. 
A.  W.  Bachelder,  the  executive  head  of  the  com- 
pany, closed  the  deal  under  which  he  paid  Mr. 
Nash  fifty  thousand  dollars,  spot  cash,  for  it,  the 
largest  sum  of  money  ever  paid  by  an  American 
dealer  for  a stamp  collection. 

“But  I must  go,  Doc.,  and  will  only  add  a 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


65 


word  about  my  friend,  D.  W.  Osgood  of  Pueblo, 
Colorado,  although  there  are  many  other  dealers 
in  various  parts  of  the  United  States  I would  like 
to  tell  you  about  if  I had  time.  This  Mr.  Osgood 
is  very  reliable  and  one  of  the  characters  in  the 
stamp  business.  ‘ ‘ His  Pumpkin  Colored  Stamp 
Man,5  as  he  calls  it,  a stamp  paper  published  by 
him  every  month,  reflects  the  good  nature  and 
humorous  characteristics  of  the  man.  ” 

“ Yes,  I read  what  he  said  about  you  in  one  of 
his  write-ups  about  i eminent  men,  ’ and  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  like  you,  he  is  built  on  pretty 
much  the  same  lines,  especially  on  the  inside.” 
c £ I don’t  know  about  that,  Doc. , but  he  is  cer- 
tainly very  clever,  and  stamp  collectors  look  for- 
ward to  the  coming  of  his  £ Stamp  Man  ’ as  an 
essential  part  of  their  existence.” 


CHAPTER  YI. 


THE  STAMP  SPECULATOR. 

“ Well,  here  you  are  again  I see.  What’s  new 
now  ? Found  a six  cent  orange  proprietary  ? ” 

“ Not  yet,  Doc.,  but  I am  digging  for  it  all  the 
time.  How  are  you  getting  along  with  your 
stamp  collection  ? ” 

“Fine,  but  my  wife  can’t  understand  what  has 
got  into  me  lately.  I was  thumbing  and  hinging 
a lot  of  stamps  I purchased  from  Wolseiffer  into 
my  album  last  night,  and  she  declared  that  I 
must  be  in  my  second  childhood,  as  it  was  twelve 
o’clock  before  I turned  in.  I must  have  had  the 
disease  in  a dormant  state  for  some  time,  and  it 
only  needed  some  chap  like  you,  in  the  last  stages 
of  the  mania,  to  come  along  and  stir  it  up  in  me, 
till  now  I have  it  pretty  nearly  as  bad  as  you  have. 
I am  determined  now  to  get  a fine  collection  of 
the  United  States  revenues,  and  match  and  med- 
icine stamps  first,  and  then  go  into  Canadian  rev- 
enues. I find  a good  deal  of  pleasure  in  it  too. 
It  diverts  my  mind  from  the  annoyances  and 

hardships  of  the  drug  business.” 

66 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


67 


“ Yes,  that  is  one  of  the  great  pleasures  I find 
in  stamps  myself,  is  the  diversion  it  gives  me 
from  business  cares.  Many  judge  by  my  adver- 
tisements that  I am  purely  a speculator  in  stamps, 
and  am  interested  in  the  hobby  for  the  possible 
financial  gain  only.  Where  that  of  course  is  a 
pleasant  thought  to  know  or  feel  your  stamps  are 
increasing  in  value  all  the  time,  my  ‘ Stamp  Hunt- 
ing 5 and  collecting  and  dealing  in  them  is  a recre- 
ation and  solace  well  worth  the  time  and  trouble 
spent,  even  if  at  the  er.d  of  the  year  the  books 
show  no  profit.  But  there  are  a class  of  people 
that  speculate  and  gamble  in  stamps,  as  they 
would  do  in  anything  else.  There  are  even  stamps 
made  for  speculative  purposes.  The  Hamilton 
Bank  Note  Co.,  of  New  York,  of  whom  Mr. 
Seebeck  is  the  head,  has  for  some  years  received 
the  contracts  from  South  and  Central  America 
Bepublics  to  print  their  stamps,  not  for  postal 
purposes  exclusively,  but  more  especially  for  sale 
to  collectors  at  large  profits.  The  Island  of 
Trinidad,  situated  in  the  South  Atlantic,  does  not 
possess  a single  human  inhabitant,  and  is  almost 
inaccessible,  being  nothing  more  thanamassof 
rugged  rocks,  about  three  miles  long  and  two 


68 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


miles  wide,  the  central  peak  rising  up  over  two 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Sea 
gulls  are  the  only  sign  of  life  that  ever  existed  or 
ever  could  exist  on  this  barren  place.  In  1894  a 
fellow  by  the  name  of  Hinckley  landed  in  New 
York,  and  styled  himself  ‘Prince  James  I., 
Ruler  of  the  Island.’  He  succeeded  in  having 
printed  seven  varieties  of  labels,  from  five 
centimes  to  five  francs;  these  he  called  ‘ postage 
stamps  for  the  Principality  of  Trinidad,’  and  they 
were  very  attractive,  with  a design  representing 
a sea  view  of  this  populous  and  fertile  island. 
How  many  of  these  stamps  got  into  the  hands  of 
collectors  is  not  known,  but  there  were  thousands 
ready  to  buy  them  at  ten  per  cent,  above  face. 

“Another  swindle  on  the  stamp  collecting  pub- 
lic was  a year  later  when  a fellow  issued  a lot  of 
labels,  bearing  a face  value  of  five  cents,  and  an 
eagle  and  ‘ Clipperton  Island  ’ engraved  thereon. 
I have  yet  to  discover  where  this  island  is,  but  it 
is  said  to  belong  to  the  United  States,  which  fact 
would  stamp  it  as  a fraud,  as  it  could  not  have 
legally  issued  a stamp  at  all. 

“An ex-officer  of  the  French  navy  titled  him- 
self ‘King  Marie  the  of  the  Sedangs,’  a tribe 


STAMP  HUNTING, 


69 


of  half  civilized  people  inhabiting  a small  district 
on  the  borders  of  the  French  Colony  of  Annam; 
he  had  printed  a set  of  seven  stamps,  and  placed 

them  on  sale  in  Paris  as  genuine  postage  stamps 
of  the  French  Colony.  They  of  course,  never  saw 
postal  duty;  the  French  government  tumbled  to  it, 
and  put  a stop  to  his  proceedings.  But  these  in- 
stances are  open  frauds  and  swindles. 

‘ £ The  business  of  Mr.  Seebeck,  or  the  Hamil- 
ton Bank  Note  Co.,  was  legitimate  and  above 
board,  but  their  methods  of  manufacturing  stamps 
threw  onto  collectors  each  year  hundreds  of  varie- 
ties of  stamps  that  were  perfectly  needless  issues, 
and  were  printed  primarily  to  sell  to  collectors. 
Representing  the  company,  Seebeck  would  bind 
himself  for  a period  of  years  to  supply  small 
governments  with  postage  stamps  free  of  charge, 
changing  the  design  every  year.  In  return  the 
governments  would  cede  to  the  company  any  sur- 
plus stock  remaining,  and  the  Seebeck  Co. , retain- 
ing the  dies  and  plates,  could  re-print  stamps  as 
they  chose,  for  sale  to  collectors. 55 

‘ i But  I don’t  collect  that  class  of  stuff.  I sup- 
pose there  is  no  danger  of  United  States  revenues 
being  reprinted  and  issued  is  there  ? ” 


TO 


mxm  huktisn*. 


44  No,  the  dies  and  plates  of  these  stamps  were  all 
destroyed  and  the  forger  would  have  to  show  his 
hand  to  duplicate  anything  but  the  original  stamps.” 
44  Your  speaking  of  stamps  made  this  way,  re- 
minds me  of  the  old  4 Sprinkle  ’ dollar,  a specimen 
of  which  I have  kept  as  a curiosity,  although  I do 
not  collect  coins.  Do  you  know  what  I mean  ? ” 

4 4 No,  Doc.,  I don’t  think  I do.” 

44  Well,  they  were  called  the  4 Sprinkle’  dollars 
from  the  name  given  them  by  the  maker,  Josiah 
Sprinkle,  who  once  owned  a silver  mine  in  the 
West.  One  day,  along  in  the  thirties,  he 
appeared  in  Washington,  his  old  home,  then  a 
thriving  town  near  Peoria,  with  a buckskin  pouch 
full  of  silver  dollars  made  by  his  own  hand.  They 
were  not  counterfeits,  but  had  on  one  side  the 
stamp  of  an  owl,  and  on  the  other  side  a six- 
pointed  star.  They  were  pure  silver,  weighed 
more  than  the  regular  dollar,  and  really  worth 
more  than  one  hundred  cents.  He  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  passing  his  coin,  but  the  government 
found  it  out  one  day  and  caused  his  arrest  for 
counterfeiting.  He  was  set  free,  however,  as  his 
money  in  ncyway  imitated  Uncle  Sam’s  and  be- 
sides, was  worth  more.” 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


71 


“I  never  heard  of  that  story  before,  and  I 
should  think,  Doc. , you  had  a rare  coin  there.  ” 

“ Yes,  it  is.  A coin  man  offered  me  twenty- 
five  dollars  for  it.” 

6 6 That  reminds  me  of  a postage  stamp  that 
made  more  noise  and  comment  in  the  world  than 
any  other  ever  made,  although  it  was  a legitimate 
issue  and  not  speculative  in  any  way.  In  1860, 
Mr.  Charles  Connell  was  Postmaster  General  of 
the  British  Colony  of  New  Brunswick.  Soon 
after  his  entry  into  office  the  currency  was 
changed  from  ‘ pence  ’ to  ‘ cents. 5 A new  series 
of  postage  stamps  then  became  necessary. 
Brother  Connell  wasn’t  very  pretty,  but  he 
reasoned  out  that  his  ‘ phiz  5 would  look  first  rate 
on  one  of  the  stamps,  the  five  cent  variety,  and  a 
half  a million  of  these  stamps  bearing  his  portrait 
were  struck  off  by  the  American  Bank  Note  Co., 
and  delivered  to  the  New  Brunswick  authorities. 
No  sooner  had  the  stamps  arrived  than  his  polit- 
ical opponents  came  together,  and  decided  that 
Charlie  was  too  ambitious,  the  same  trouble  that 
brought  our  Roman  friend,  Caesar,  to  grief;  that 
he  wanted  to  be  king  of  the  realm.  So  they 
marched  in  a body  to  his  residence  and  with  a 


72 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


‘ Marcus  Brutus’  style  of  argument,  gently 
jumped  astraddle  of  the  Postmaster  General,  and 
off  went  his  head,  at  least  from  the  stamps.  A 
new  design  of  the  Queen  was  substituted  .and  the 
500,000  bewhiskered  stamps  were  destroyed. 
Only  a few  were  saved,  and  that  is  the  reason  why 
you  find  that  stamp,  Doc. , hard  to  get  at  full  cat- 
alogue price  of  one  hundred  and  forty  dollars. 

“ During  the  civil  war  in  this  country,  postage 
stamps  came  into  unusual  use.  In  1862  small 
change  had  almost  entirely  disappeared  from  cir- 
culation, and  postage  stamps  were  forced  into  use 
as  currency.  They  were  put  up  first  in  small 
envelopes,  stating  amount  enclosed,  with  the 
name  and  advertisement  of  the  firm  that  issued 
the  envelope.  The  plan  worked  so  well  that  later 
in  the  year  a Mr.  Gault  patented  a brass  recepta- 
cle, circular  in  form,  and  faced  with  mica,  about 
the  thickness  of  a silver  quarter.  The  case  con- 
tained a stamp  the  value  of  which  could  be  plainly 
seen  through  the  mica,  varying  in  denomination 
from  one  cent  to  ninety  cents.  These  stamp- 
coins  passed  readily  as  government  currency  and 
are  of  great  interest,  appealing  to  the  coin  collect- 
ors as  well  as  to  stamp  people.  This  makeshift 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


73 


money  was  not  long  in  operation.  The  govern- 
ment soon  issued  a series  of  small  bank  notes 
known  as  ‘ postal  currency. 5 The  notes  were  of 
the  value  of  five,  ten,  twenty-five  and  fifty  cents, 
and  bore  the  inscription,  4 postage  currency, 
furnished  only  by  the  assistant  treasurers  and 
designated  depositories  of  the  United  States.’ 
The  five  and  ten  cent  had  representations  of  the 
postage  stamps  then  in  use  of  the  same  denomina- 
tion, engraved  in  the  center.  The  twenty-five 
cent  note  had  five  five  cent  stamps,  and  the  fifty 
cent  note  five  ten  cent  stamps  engraved  in  a row, 
overlapping  each  other. 

“The  Columbian  issues  of  the  United  States 
show  many  sad  failures  of  speculation  in  philately. 
Hundreds  of  persons,  yes,  thousands,  saved  and 
hoarded  these  stamps,  both  in  a used  as  well  as  an 
unused  state,  thinking  they  would  rapidly  advance 
in  value,  and  prove  a great  financial  investment. 
Parties  having  no  knowledge  of  stamps  at  all,  or 
any  love  for  them  either,  bought  full  sets  of  these 
stamps,  thinking  that  they  could  double  their 
money  or  more  in  two  years.  One  party  in  the 
East  anticipated  a profit  of  fifteen  thousand  dol- 
lars by  trying  to  corner  the  fifty  cent  and  two 


74 


STA.MP  HUNTING. 


dollar  Columbian  stamps.  They  obtained  tbo 
exact  number  issued  from  the  government  and 
immediately  put  the  American  Express  Company 
and  other  express  companies  in  touch  with  every 
postoffice  in  the  United  States,  advancing  money 
to  buy  all  the  stamps  of  these  denominations  re- 
maining. They  then  advertised  in  all  the  stamp 
papers  offering,  in  some  instances,  seventy-five 
cents  for  fifty  cent  stamps  and  four  dollars  for  the 
two  dollar  ones.  I sold  the  party  a lot  of  fifties 
myself  at  that  price,  but  it  wasn’t  two  weeks 
afterward  when  the  attempted  corner  fell  through, 
and  he  was  glad  to  sell  them  back  to  me  at  a loss  of 
twenty  per  cent.  He  spent  thousands  of  dollars 
for  the  stamps,  but  the  collapse  came,  like 
Leiter’s  wheat  deal,  and  he  was  obliged  to  unload 
at  a loss,  and  to-day  these  unused  stamps  are  sell- 
ing at  from  five  to  fifteen  per  cent,  less  than  their 
face  value.  The  only  denomination  that  did  not 
collapse  altogether  was  the  one  dollar  issue,  and 
this  tumbled  fifty  per  cent. , but  a leading  firm  in 
New  York  anticipated  that  this  stamp  would  be 
the  best,  and  succeeded  from  the  start  in  obtaining 
the  greater  part  of  them.  One  of  the  speculators 
in  these  stamps  died  a short  time  ago,  after  invest- 


STAMP  BUimm 


76 


ing  his  entire  fortune  in  them,  and  now  his  widow 
has  thousands  of  dollars  worth  of  the  high  value 
World’s  Fair  stamps,  that  cannot  be  sold  for  the 
money  paid  for  them. 

“But  I must  run  down  with  my  stamp  wind 
for  this  time,  Doctor,  and  hustle.  I want  to  earn 
my  salary.  What  have  you  got  for  me  in 
surgical  dressings  this  time  ? You  look  a little 
shy  on  mustard  plasters.” 

“Yes,  put  down  a dozen  boxes;  also — 

2 lbs.  lamb’s  wool  in  ounces, 

\ doz.  catgut  ligatures, 

£ doz.  silk  ligatures, 

A box  of  Lee’s  kidney  plasters — I am  push- 
ing that  plaster — I believe  it  is  a good  one; 
also  give  me — 

10  lbs.  cotton  in  lbs., 

5 lbs.  cotton  in  ozs. 

“I  guess  that’s  all.  I am  not  selling  much 
gauze  lately.  My  leading  physician  has  gone  to 
Europe  for  the  summer.  You  might  give  me 
about  one  dozen  boxes  of  plain  gauze  in  yards. 
We  sell  that  once  in  a while  to  our  general  run 
of  trade.  That’s  all.  When  you  get  round 
again  I hope  to  have  a larger  order  for  you.  ” 


CHAPTER  VII. 


STAMP  COLLECTING  AS  A PASTIME. 

“ I don’t  notice  that  infernal  odor  of  creosote 
about  you  that  used  to  be  so  noticeable.  Have 
you  quit  using  it?” 

“Yes,  Doc.,  I had  to.  I have  taken  so  much 
of  it  that  I perspired  the  blamed  stuff;  my  friends 
shunned  me;  my  folks  drove  me  out  of  the  house, 
and  even  the  hotels  turned  me  away.  But  it  was 
a good  thing  for  my  throat  trouble.  I had  it 
down  to  a regular  system,  and  worked  it  up  till 
I could  take  twelve  drops  without  turning  a hair. 
I even  got  so  I liked  the  stuff,  and  the  odor  was 
never  disagreeable  to  me,  though  unbearable  to 
many  people.  I carried  it  in  a little  vial  in  my 
vest  pocket,  and  after  finishing  my  meal  would 
call  for  a glass  of  milk  and  drop  the  stuff  into  it. 
You  ought  to  see  the  dining  room  girls  look  at 
the  glass  after  I left.  They  would  carry  it  out 
as  if  it  were  going  to  bite,  and  many  a traveling 
man  would  exclaim  as  I went  out,  ‘What  to  h — 1 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


77 


is  th3  matter  with  that  feller  ? 5 The  day  clerk  at 
the  Union  Hotel,  Galesburg,  is  very  sensitive  to 
anything  of  the  kind.  I had  hardly  registered 
the  last  time  there  when  he  cried  out, 4 Whew  ! what 
smells  so  ? For  mercy’s  sake,  porter,  see  if  the 
gas  isn’t  leaking  somewhere.’ 

4 c I didn’t  say  a word,  but  after  bursting  a bot- 
tle of  it  in  my  pocket  in  the  next  town,  and  being 
obliged  to  stay,  in  bed  a day  or  two  while  my 
clothes  were  being  renovated,  I concluded  it  was 
time  to  quit  using  the  stuff. 

“ Years  ago  I was  in  the  moth  ball  busi- 
ness in  Boston,  and  all  I had  to  do  to  secure 
a seat  in  a crowded  car  was  to  carry  my  pockets 
full  of  the  balls.  I don’t  know  what  my  sensi- 
tive and  cultured  Boston  friends  would  do  if  I 
walked  into  the  street  cars  now,  perspiring  cre- 
osote. The  conductor  would  probably  give  me 
the  car. 

u But  speaking  of  those  moth  balls  as  killing 
moths,  it  may  drive  them  away,  but  it  will  onljr 
be  temporary.  They  will  gather  up  their  sisters 
and  their  cousins  and  their  aunts  and  come  back 
to  the  feast.  To  prove  moths  grow  well  on  it,  I 
put  a nice  fat  one,  a piece  of  woolen  carpet  about 


78 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


two  inches  square  and  the  loudest  smelling  moth 
ball  in  the  barrel  into  the  safe  one  day  and  forgot 
all  about  it  for  thirty  days.  I then  happened 
to  think  of  it  and  opened  the  box,  and  what  do 
you  think  I found,  Doc  ! ” 

“I  don’t  know;  a large  family  of  moths,  I 
suppose.” 

“A  large  family?  I should  say  so.  In  the 
first  place  there  was  no  carpet  and  no  moth  ball, 
only  the  odor  of  it  left,  and  moths!  well,  the  rea- 
son there  wTasn’t  any  more  was  because  the  box 
wasn’  bigger.” 

* £ I sell  a lot  of  it  here  in  my  drug  store,  but 
how  they  do  kick  when  they  take  their  goods  out 
in  the  fall.  I sold  a lot  of  the  same  kind  in  flake 
form  to  our  military  company  here,  to  store  away 
their  overcoats.  They  had  considerable  trouble 
with  moths  before,  and  they  must  have  shoveled 
this  stuff  in.  Last  week  they  turned  out  at  a 
funeral  of  one  of  our  prominent  men.  It  was 
cold  and  rainy  and  they  donned  their  overcoats 
for  the  first  time  since  they  were  stored  away. 
Well,  talk  about  your  odor  of  creosote;  you 
ought  to  have  been  to  our  church  when  those  fel- 
lows came  in  out  of  the  rain  ! But  how  about 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


79 


stamps  % I am  more  interested  in  them  now  than 
I am  in  anything.  Have  you  made  many  big 
strikes  lately  ? ” 

/;Not  to  speak  of  since  I was  last  here,  Doc., 
except  one  find  out  here  in  the  western  part  of 
the  state.  The  druggist  had  been  in  the  same 
location  for  fifty  years.  Years  ago  he  was  in  the 
wholsesale  business,  but  I never  could  get  him  to 
put  any  price  on  his  stamps,  or  even  to  let  me 
look  over  his  store  at  all.  Last  summer  a young 
fellow  came  into  the  store  and  asked  for  a few 
old  medicines,  a number  of  which  the  druggist 
had  with  the  stamps  on.  I don’t  know  what  they 
were,  but  he  gave  the  druggist  $3.00  for  the 
stamps  only,  and  when  I asked  him  last  week 
about  his  stamps,  for  I knew  he  had  a lot  of 
them,  he  seemed  interested  and  wanted  to  know 
what  I gave.  I said  I would  give  him  as  much 
as  anyone  else,  but  I would  have  to  see  the  stamps 
first.  He  then  told  me  of  this  fellow  paying  him 
three  dollars  for  six  stamps,  and  I replied  that  I 
would  give  him  three  dollars  apiece  for  certain 
stamps.” 

c ‘ <Are  any  stamps  worth  so  much  as  that  ? ’ says 
the  old  fellow.  He  then  was  very  willing  for  me 


80 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


to  look  for  a six  cent  orange  stamp  with  Wash- 
ington’s head  and  the  word  6 proprietary  ’ on  it. 
I didn’t  find  any,  but  before  I got  through,  my 
offer  of  ten  dollars  for  what  I wanted  elated  him 
very  much.  I didn’t  get  so  many  rare  stamps, 
but  there  were  forty-eight  Wilder’s  Vermillion, 
cataloguing  four  dollars  each,  and  enough  other 
cheaper  stamps  to  reach  a catalogue  value  of  over 
three  hundred  dollars. 

‘ ‘ One  of  the  most  unexpected  and  strange  finds 
in  rare  stamps  was  accidentally  made  a few  years 
ago  by  Mr.  Edward  B.  Sterling  of  Trenton,  N. 
J.,  the  authority  on  match  and  medicine  stamps 
I was  telling  you  about,  Doc.  Mr.  Sterling,  in 
3 ears  gone  by,  has  probably  done  more  to  accu- 
rately fix  a value  and  a market  for  this  class  of 
stamps  than  anyone  else,  and  the  stamp  world 
ivwes  much  to  him  for  bringing  out  these  hereto- 
fore despised  varieties.  Aside  from  philately, 
Mr.  Sterling  is  interested  in  collecting  other 
tilings,  more  especially  old  autograph  letters  of 
value.  Early  in  May,  1892,  the  valuable  collec- 
tion of  autographs  belonging  to  the  estate  of  Dr. 
James  H.  Causten  was  auctioned  off  in  Philadel- 
phia to  the  highest  bidder.  Mr.  Sterling  attended 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


81 


the  sale,  purchased  a few  things  offered  at  a rea- 
sonable price  and  was  about  to  leave  when  Lot 
No.  1435,  consisting  of  eight  letters  written  by 
Professor  Ben  Silliman  of  Yale  College  were  put 
up  by  the  auctioneer.  No  one  knew  of  anything 
Silliman  had  done  that  would  cause  his  autograph 
to  be  of  any  interest,  and  no  bids  were  offered. 
‘Bid  something,  gentlemen;  how  much  for  the 
bunch?’  said  the  auctioneer.  Everyone  laughed, 
and  he  was  about  to  throw  them  aside  as  worth- 
less, when  some  fellow  cried  out,  ‘A  nickel.  ’ They 
then  laughed  louder  yet,  and  Mr.  Sterling,  as  a 
joke,  bid  ten  cents,  and  without  further  parley 
the  letters  were  knocked  down  to  him  at  that 
price.  He  took  them  home  and  thought  nothing- 
more  of  it  till  a month  or  so  later  a friend  wrote 
him  for  a few  autographs.  He  then  thought  of  a 
Silliman  letter  as  being  one  of  others  that  he  would 
send,  and  thoughtlessly  looked  them  over  for  the 
first  time.  Doc. , to  make  a long  story  short,  the 
last  but  one  in  the  pile  contained  an  envelope 
bearing  a copy  of  the  very  rare  five  cent  red  NewT 
Haven  stamp,  the  only  perfect  specimen  known. 
The  find  made  a great  furor  among  stamp  peo- 
ple at  that  time,  and  it  was  purchased  finally  in 


82 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


Europe,  changing  hands  several  times,  but  net- 
ting Mr.  Sterling  one  thousand  dollars  cash.  ” 

“ You  don’t  mean  it;  you  must  be  stretching 
it  a little,  old  man.  ” 

“No,  I am  not,  Doc.  New  York  papers  gave 
an  account  of  it,  and  the  next  time  round  I’ll 
bring  a photograph  of  the  stamp  and  a photo- 
graph also  of  the  original  letter  on  which  it  was 
found.” 

“Another  lucky  strike  of  a rare  stamp  was 
made  many  years  ago  by  Mr.  Francis  Foster  of 
Boston,  who  now  has  a collection  of  stamps  worth 
thousands  of  dollars  and  second  to  a very  few,  if 
any,  in  New  England.  While  walking  along 
Washington  Street  one  day,  he  was  accosted  by  a 
young  boy  with  a Brattleboro  local  stamp  on  the 
original  cover,  -who  wanted  seventy-five  cents  for 
it.  In  those  days  the  local  postmaster  stamps 
were  not  particularly  desired  by  the  few  collect- 
ors, and  he  refused  to  buy  it.  The  boy  followed 
after  him  and  reduced  the  price  to  sixty  cents, 
and  seemed  very  much  hurt  when  he  again  refused 
it.  Turning  the  next  corner  Mr.  Foster  thought 
that  probably  the  boy  was  really  in  distress  for 
the  money  and  that  if  he  favored  him  this  time  ho 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


83 


might,  sooner  or  later,  bring  round  something 
good  in  postage  stamps.  He  turned  and  whistled 
for  the  boy  to  come  back,  made  him  happy  with 
the  sixty  cents,  and  to-day,  Doc.,  five  hundred 
dollars  wouldn’t  buy  the  stamp  from  Mr.  Foster. 
It  is  one  of  the  great  rareities  of  this  country.” 
“Is  that  so;  that  is  very  singular,  and  very 
fortunate  too  for  Mr.  Foster.  I am  glad  you  got 
me  started  in  this  stamp  collecting.  I never  ex- 
pect to  get  a collection  of  great  value  or  to  obtain 
such  stamps  as  New  Havens  and  Brattleboros, 
etc.,  but  it  is  so  facinating  and  interesting. 
There  is  always  something  to  do  round  a drug 
store,  but  there  are  moments  when  time  seems  to 
drag,  and  my  work  irksome.  It  is  then  my  stamp 
collection  comes  in  as  a solace  and  pastime,  the 
like  of  which  I never  have  had  before.” 

“That’s  so,  Doc.  I know  many  a business 
man  who  enjoys  the  same  relaxation  with  their 
stamps  as  you  do.  It  is  the  greatest  of  pastimes. 
Almost  every  traveling  man  has  his  blue  days 
when  on  the  road  from  dull  business  or  other 
causes,  but  since  I have  taken  up  with  stamp  hunt- 
ing and  collecting  I never  have  a blue  day.  I am 
too  busy,  and  it  really  encourages  me  in  my  mak- 


84 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


ing  sales  and  in  my  work.  A traveling  man’s 
life  is  one  fraught  with  much  personal  sacrifice  at 
best,  and  this  stamp  business  is  really  interesting 
and  diverting,  to  say  nothing  of  the  profit 
attached  to  it.” 

“I  guess  that’s  so,  and  keeps  you  always  good 
natured  too.  Well,  dig  up  a six  cent  orange  pro- 
prietary on  your  next  trip.  I hanker  after  that 
stamp  like  Abraham  Lincoln  after  the  girl  he 
finally  married.  As  he  told  her  when  they  first 
met  at  a ball,  ‘I  want  to  dance  with  you  the 
worst  way,’  and  after  it  was  over  she  said  it  was 
the  worst  way.” 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


STAMP  COLLECTING  AS  AN  INVESTMENT. 

“ You’re  round  just  in  time.  I was  going  to 
send  in  an  order  to  your  house  for  plasters  and 
stuff  to-day.” 

‘ ‘ That’s  good  news,  Doc.  What  have  you 
got  ? ” 

6 ‘ Put  down  a half  dozen  one  inch  spools  of  rub- 
ber adhesive  plaster  and  a half  a dozen  two  inch; 
a dozen  yards  assorted  isinglass  plaster,  half 
white  and  a quarter  each  black  and  flesh.  One 
dozen  round  corn  plasters  thin,  and  one  dozen  oval 
corn  plasters  thick.  I can  sell  your  cotton  all 
right  to  almost  everybody,  but  there  is  one  of  my 
physicians  won't  have  anything  but  Johnson  & 
Johnson’s.  He  bought  some  cheap  cotton  in 
paper  rolls  from  a supply  house,  and  it  was  no 
good — wouldn’t  absorb  a little  bit,  and  has  preju- 
diced him  against  any  other  brand.  Anyway 
give  me  fifteen  pounds  in  pounds;  five  pounds  in 
quarters;  five  pounds  in  halves,  and  five  pounds 
in  ounces.  Also  six  dozen  Lee’s  sulphur  torches. 


STAMP  HUHTXNG. 


1 have  got  quite  a run  on  them  and  sell  a good 
many.  There  is  quite  a little  diphtheria  in  the 
neighborhood  and  the  doctors  prescribe  them- 
Give  me  also  a dozen  mustard  plasters  on 
paper  and  about  two  pounds  of  lamb’s  wool  in 
halves — make  it  one  pound.  I see  I have  a 
pound  on  hand  and  it’s  slow  sale.  Put  down — 
A pound  of  lint  in  ounces, 

6 — 5 yds.  corrosive  sublimate  gauze, 

6 — 5 yds.  iodoform  gauze,  5 per  cent. , 

3 — 5 yds.  iodoform  gauze,  10  per  cent., 

I guess  that’s  all.” 

u How  about  porous  plasters  ? ” 

“ I think  I have  enough.  They  are  not  selling 
very  well  lately,  but  you  might  give  me  three 
dozen  more  of  Lee’s  kidney  plasters.  Yes,  make 
it  a half  gross.  I sell  them  by  the  half  a dozen 
to  a farmer  out  here  in  the  country,  who  shingles 
his  roof  with  ’em  after  he  wears  them  a while.” 
u That’s  a new  one  on  me,  Doc.  What  do  you 
mean?  ” 

‘ ‘ Why,  I thought  everybody  knew  that  story. 
He  is  an  odd  genius  and  never  destroys  anything. 
By  the  way,  I was  thinking  the  other  day  he 
might  have  some  old  stamps  of  value,  and  drove 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


87 


out  to  see  him  and  found  about  fifty  dollars’  worth 

of  crood  stuff  that  I have  traded  for  match  and 
© 

medicine  varieties  not  in  my  collection.  Years 
ago,  during  the  war  I think  it  was,  he  injured  his 
back,  and  found  relief  only  in  the  constant  use  of 
porous  plasters.  I don’t  know  how  many 
Alcock’s  I sold  him,  till  I got  him  onto  Lee’s  bel- 
ladonna, and  then  onto  Lee’s  kidney.  Any  way 
it  has  been  hundreds  of  them.  When  his  roof 
sprung  a leak  a year  or  two  ago  he  patched  up  the 
place  first  rate,  the  Bergundy  pitch  in  them  being 
impervious  to  water.  And  now,  as  fast  as  other 
parts  of  his  roof  give  way  he  nails  down  his  used 
porous  plasters  in  place  of  shingles.” 

“That  beats,  Doc.,  many  of  my  stamp  yarns. 
I’ll  have  to  put  that  down  in  my  book.  I have 
heard  of  all  kinds  of  plaster  stories,  but  I never 
heard  of  that  one  before.  I know  of  a case  once 
of  a woman  sending  her  son  to  a drug  store  for  a 
porous  plaster,  and  the  boy  took  a notion  to  run 
off  to  sea.  Many  years  afterward,  when  the 
mother  was  bowed  down  with  the  weight  of 
years,  wrinkled  and  gray,  a middle  aged  stranger 
knocked  at  her  door  and  said,  4 Mother,  I am 
your  long  lost  son.’  ‘No,  no,’  she  said,  ‘it  can- 


88 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


not  be;  mj  boy  was  red-headed.’  ‘But  mother, 
look,  ’ as  he  exposed  his  chest,  ‘ don’t  you 
remember  sending  me  for  a porous  plaster? 
There  it  is.  ’ 

‘ ‘ ‘ My  son ! My  son  ! ! ’ 

‘ ‘ But  going  back  to  your  order,  Doc. , what 
else  is  there  ? How  about  hypodermic  syringes, 
catheters,  etc.  ? ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Have  all  I can  use  for  some  time  to  come.  I 
don’t  sell  much  of  that  stuff;  but  you  might  put 
me  down  three  dozen  Pioneer  corn  plasters. 
They  are  all  right  for  corns.  I used  it  myself 
with  good  results.  I don’t  think  of  anything 
else,  but  drop  in  again  before  you  leave  town; 
something  might  come  up  in  the  meantime.  How 
about  your  stamp  hunts  ? I am  patiently  waiting 
for  you  to  come  in  with  a six  cent  orange 
proprietary.” 

‘ ‘ I am  on  the  lookout  all  the  time,  Doctor,  but 
it  is  a scarce  stamp,  and  not  turned  up  every 
day.  ” 

“Yes,  I know  it  well  enough  now.  I tried 
nearly  all  the  stamp  dealers  you  were  telling  me 
about,  and  only  two  had  specimens,  and  one 
wanted  thirty-five  dollars,  and  the  other  forty. 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


89 


If  I had  only  known  all  this  years  ago.  I have 
sold  hundreds  of  bottles  of  Wilkoft’s  fever  and 
ague  cure  that  had  this  stamp,  I am  sure.” 

“Doc.,  you  ought  to  have  been  as  far  sighted 
as  our  Hebrew  friend,  Mr.  Solomon,  when  he 
hired  an  Irish  wet  nurse:  ‘ Yat  for  you  do  dat,’ 
asked  his  friend  Isaacs  of  him  one  day.  ‘Veil, 
I tell  you  vy,’  says  Solomon.  ‘ Don’t  say  a vord, 
I vant  my  leedle  poy  Jacob  to  pegin  early  in  life 
to  make  his  living  off  dose  shentiles.  ’ You  and 
I ought  to  have  begun  earlier,  Doc.” 

“That’s  right,  but  I am  thankful  I have  now 
started,  even  if  it  is  late.  I am  gathering  up 
quite  a few  good  stamps  from  my  neighbors,  who 
have  tumbled  to  the  fact  that  I am  a stamp  crank. 
An  old  German  woman  living  not  far  from  my 
house  came  in  the  other  night  and  said  that  she 
had  heard  that  stamps  coming  on  old  medicines 
were  valuable.  The  day  before  she  had  received 
a bottle  of  some  cough  syrup  through  the  mail. 
It  took  six  cents  in  postage  to  carry  it,  and  tk:se 
were  her  medicine  stamps  she  expected  me  to  buy 
from  her.  A fellow  by  the  name  of  Fletcher 
keeps  a cross  road  country  drug  store  ten  miles 
west  of  here.  I spoke  to  him  the  other  day 


90 


STAMP  HUKTIKG. 


about  looking  through  his  stock,  and  offered  him 
ten  dollars  for  a six  cent  orange  proprietary. 
Yesterday  he  drove  in  especially  with  two  copies 
of  the  stamp,  as  he  thought.  They  were  really 
six  cent  proprietaries,  but  black  and  green,  and 
he  couldn’t  for  the  life  of  him  see  where  the  color 
made  any  difference.” 

“But  we  can  expect  such  things,  Doc.,  from 
those  who  don’t  know  anything  about  our  hobby, 
but  when  a person  thinks  she  has  some  rare  med- 
icine stamps  just  because  the  common  postage 
kind  were  used  to  send  a bottle  of  medicine 
through  the  mails,  I have  nothing  in  all  my  ex- 
perience to  tell  that  can  beat  that.  The  nearest 
I have  to  it  is  a case  up  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  state,  in  LeRoy.  I didn’t  find  much  of  any- 
thing in  medicine  stamps  in  the  place,  but  an  in- 
surance and  loan  agent  had  a lot  of  old  documents 
and  papers  with  revenue  stamps,  some  of 
which  were  unperforated,  with  large  margins. 
Of  course  he  didn’t  know  the  difference,  but  he 
wouldn’t  let  me  have  the  higher  values  perforated, 
like  the  fifty  cent  original  process,  one  dollar  in- 
land exchange  and  two  dollar  conveyance,  unless 
I paid  full  face  value;  but  the  ten  cent  certificate 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


91 


unperforated,  two  cent  express  part  perforated, 
and  twenty  cent  foreign  exchange,  etc. — stamps 
worth  twenty  to  thirty  times  the  others,  he  was 
glad  to  let  me  have  at  the  value  indicated. 

6 ‘ I put  an  advertisement  a while  ago  in  several 
country  newspapers,  worded  as  follows: 
‘ Wanted. — Highest  cash  price  paid  for  old  post- 
age and  revenue  stamps.  Send  on  what  you  have 
for  our  offer,  or  make  your  own  price,  and  if  sat- 
isfactory will  remit  promptly.’ 

“ Well,  Doc.,  you  would  laugh  to  see  and  read 
some  of  the  stuff  and  letters  that  were  sent  me. 
One  fellow  wrote  me  from  down  somewhere  in 
Missouri,  enclosing  a sheet,  with  a dozen  or  so  of 
the  commonest  stamps  sewed  to  paper,  and  wrote 
as  follows: 

‘ ‘ 6 Dear  sir,  i seen  your  ad.  in  the  paper  and  thot 
i would  rite  you.  for  agent  in  my  kownty  i can 
get  piles  of  stamps,  i send  yer  samples.  The 
two  cent  red  i can  get  thousands  of  and  the  one 
cent  to.  the  four  cent  not  so  many  but  that  is  the 
rare  stamp,  i herd  tell  on  sume  one  getting  fife 
dollars  for  a ten  cent  stamp,  i hav  2 of  them  and 
you  may  hav  them  both  for  fife  dollars,  rite  soon 
and  let  me  here  what  you  pay. 

Yours  truly,  Geo.  K . 


STAMP  HUKTIXG. 


m 

66  4P.S.— Mark  what  yon  pay  on  the  shete  and 
send  back,  if  you  pay  enough  ill  work  for  you 
rite  along.  Geo.5 

4 4 Another  sent  in  a lot  of  common  stamps  by 
express,  charges  sixty  cents,  value  seventy-five 
cents,  and  wanted  eight  dollars  for  them.  One  or 
two  sent  some  real  good  stamps  and  modestly 
asked  a dollar  or  anything  I would  give.  Most 
of  them,  however,  showed  as  much  sense  as  Pat. 
He  landed  in  America  with  the  popular  belief 
that  money  could  be  picked  up  in  the  streets. 
Accordingly,  seeing  a tin  tobacco  tag  lying  on  the 
sidewalk,  he  picked  it  up  and  went  into  a saloon 
and  threw  it  down  for  a glass  of  beer.  4 That’s 
tin,5  says  the  bartender.  4 Is  it?5  says  Pat. 
4 Have  a drink  with  me — I thought  it  w^as  a 
f oive. 5 

44  This  stamp  hunting  and  collecting,  buying 
and  selling  stamps,  Doc. , brings  out  all  kinds  of 
characters  and  people,  but  buying  stamps  judici- 
ously affords  as  good  an  investment  as  anything 
I know  of.55 

44  Yes,  I am  pretty  sure  of  it  now.  I am 
adding  to  my  collection  every  day.55 

4 4 No  better  evidence  of  it  can  be  had  than  the 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


93 


immense  price  rare  stamps  bring  at  the  stamp  auc- 
tions, now  held  regularly  during  the  season.  The 
first  auction  probably  ever  held  of  postage  stamps, 
took  place  in  London  in  March,  1862.  It  was  a 
flat  failure*,  few  attended  and  the  prices  realized 
were  insignificant.  The  rare  local  Brattleboro 
stamp  of  the  United  States  brought  only  fifteen 
dollars  at  this  sale.  Three  varieties  of  the  five 
cent  St.  Louis  stamps  brought  even  less  than 
that,  and  two  copies  of  the  twenty  cent  St.  Louis, 
the  rarest  of  the  lot,  worth  a thousand  dollars 
now,  brought  less  than  nine  pounds,  forty-five 
dollars.  A strip  of  two  of  these  twenty  cent 
stamps  and  one  five  cent  on  the  original  letter 
sold  in  1895  for  five  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
Brattleboro  stamp  about  the  same  time  for  six 
hundred  dollars.  Four  varieties  of  the  first  New 
South  Wales  stamps  brought,  at  this  first  auction, 
three  guineas.  Three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
could  not  buy  the  same  stamps  now.  The  thirteen 
cent  Hawaiian  stamp  of  the  first  issue  realized  six 
pounds  and  ten  shillings.  Its  present  value  is 
about  seventy-five  pounds.  Among  the  greatest 
rarities  are  the  post  office  Mauritius  stamps. 
Only  about  eight  specimens  of  each  value  are 


94 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


known  to  exist.  One  thousand  dollars  was  paid 
for  an  unused  pair  along  in  the  seventies,  but  as 
large  as  this  appears  to  the  ordinary  person  for 
two  little  lots  of  gummed  paper,  the  same  pair 
sold  in  1896  in  Paris  for  forty  thousand  francs, 
or  close  to  eight  thousand  dollars.  The  one  cent 
provisional  issue,  1856,  of  British  Guiana,  is, 
however,  Doc.,  the  most  valuable  piece  of  paper 
of  its  size  in  existence.  Only  one  specimen  is 
known,  and  that  is  owned  by  Herr  P.  Yon  Fer- 
rary, an  Italian  nobleman  living  in  Paris,  who 
considers  it  priceless.  Only  ten  specimens  of  the 
first  issued  two  cent  stamp  of  this  colony  are 
known,  and  up  to  two  years  ago  only  eight.  It  was 
then  an  old  lady  living  in  Georgetown  found  an 
unsevered  pair  of  them  in  some  old  missionary 
correspondence.  The  pastor  of  the  church  she 
belonged  to  was  something  of  a stamp  crank,  and 
she  gave  the  stamps  to  him,  and  he,  in  turn,  sold 

them  for  more  than  a whole  year’s  salary,  two 
* 

hundred  and  five  pounds.  A month  after,  a Lon- 
don dealer  got  hold  of  them  for  three  thousand 
dollars,  and  a wealthy  Londoner,  the  Duke  of 
York,  I am  told,  bought  the  stamps  from  him 
for  four  thousand  dollars.  Many  of  the  looal 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


95 


stamps  issued  by  the  Confederate  postmasters 
during  the  war  are  also  very  rare  and  valuable. 
In  1892  the  five  cent  blue  issued  by  the  Livingston, 
Alabama,  postoffice,  sold  at  auction  in  New  York 
for  seven  hundred  and  eighty  dollars.  The  twelve 
pence  Canadian  stamp  of  the  first  issue  is  worth 
about  five  hundred  dollars. 

“ Years  ago  when  I first  became  interested  in  the 
hobby,  this  stamp  was  priced  way  beyond  my 
reach,  but  only  a fraction  of  its  present  value. 
One  of  the  great  rarities  is  a stamp  issued  by 
Spain  in  1854;  the  one  real  pale  blue.  Seven 
hundred  dollars  is  considered  a very  low  price  for 
it  now.  The  presence  of  an  error  vastly  enhances 
the  value  of  a stamp,  as  the  numbers  of  speci- 
mens printed  and  circulated  before  the  mistake 
was  found  are  comparatively  few  in  number.  The 
two  pence  Western  Australia  printed  in  the  color 
of  the  six  pence  is  worth  a hundred  dollars,  while 
the  regular  color,  yellow,  of  the  same  stamp,  is 
only  catalogued  twelve  cents.  The  Saxony  half 
new  groschen,  in  the  color  of  the  two  new  gro- 
schen,  brought  lately  at  a London  auction  fifty 
pounds,  and  is  catalogued  by  Scott  at  three  hun- 
dred dollars,  wffiile  the  regular  color  gray  is 


96 


STAMP  HUlSrTIKG. 


priced  at  twelve  cents  used,  and  four  dollars  un- 
used. 

“I  don’t  know,  Doc.,  what  errors  there  were 
in  my  collection  I was  telling  you  about,  that  was 
stolen  from  me  in  W yoming,  but  I have  no  doubt 
I had  many  rare  stamps.  Misstrikes  or  misprints 
like  what  I am  telling  you,  were  not  thought  of 
in  those  days.  In  our  own  issue  of  the  United 
States  in  1869,  the  errors  cropped  out  in  the  fif- 
teen, twenty-four  and  thirty  cent  issues.  In  the 
two  former  the  central  pictures  were  inverted, 
and  in  the  thirty  cent  one  the  flags  were  inverted. 
These  stamps  were  printed  in  two  colors,  and  all 
such  stamps  are  liable  to  errors  for  the  sheet  has  to 
pass  twice  through  the  press,  and  parts  of  the  de- 
sign thus  occasionally  get  inverted.  The  mistake 
is  soon  found  however,  and  very  few  get  out  in 
that  condition,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  such 
high  value  is  put  on  them.  In  the  case  of  these 
United  States  stamps,  inverts  are  catalogued  two 
hundred  dollars  for  the  fifteen  cent  and  twenty- 
four  cent  ones  and  six  hundred  dollars  for  the 
thirty  cent  stamp.  Two  dollars,  seven  dollars 
and  four  dollars  respectively  buys  the  stamps, 
with  pictures  straight.  The  supposition  is,  Doc., 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


97 


we  boy  collectors  in  the  seventies  would  have  re- 
turned the  inverted  ones  if  we  had  noticed  them, 
as  being  upside  down  and  not  exactly  right.  But 
we  never  noticed  anything  then,  where  now  the 
advanced  collector  gets  out  his  microscope  and 
looks  for  the  slightest  chance  for  a variety  in 
paper,  cheapness  of  engraving,  color,  brilliancy 
of  impression,  size  of  margin,  original  gum,  etc., 
in  unused  specimens,  and  in  used  stamps  the 
lightness  of  cancellation,  etc. ; the  finer  and  more 
perfect  and  well  centered  a stamp  is  the  higher 
price  of  course  it  will  bring. 

“ I have  here,  Doc.,  a page  taken  from  ‘The 
Stamp  Collector,’  showing  the  catalogue  prices  of 
twenty  different  stamps  taken  at  random  from  all 
over  the  world,  and  showing  how  they  have  in- 
creased in  value  since  1869: 


NAME  OP  COUNTRY  AND  DATE  OF  ISSUE.  1869  1877  1887  1897 

s.  d.  s.d.  s.  d.  s.  d. 

Bremen,  1860,  7 grote,  black  on  yellow 06  06  06  18  0 

Brunswick  1852,  1 sgr.,  rose 16  20  36  20  0 

Canada,  1855,  10  pence,  blue 10  4 0 7 6 35  0 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  1861,  printed  in  Cape 

Town,  4 pence,  blue 3 0 3 0 6 0 4'  0 

Denmark,  1851,  2rgbsk.,  blue 3 0 4 0 5 0 95  0 

Finland,  1856,  5 kopecks,  blue 16  10  10  25  0 

France,  1850,  15  centimes,  green 04  09  10  10  0 

Hanover,  1851,  1 ggr.,  black  on  green 10  10  09  76 

Holland,  1864,  15  cent.,  orange 06  16  20  15  0 

Luxemburg,  1852,  1 sgr.,  rose 04  06  09  30 

Naples,  1858,  lA  grano,  lake  10  10  10  12  6 

Nevis,  1861,  6 pence,  gray  lilac 10  1 0 3 0 100  0 


9S 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


NAME  OP  COUNTRY  AND  DATE  OP  ISSUE.  1869  1877  1887  1897 

s.  d.  s.  d.  e.  d.  s.  d. 

New  Brunswick,  1851, 6 pence,  yellow 4 6 4 6 10  0 90  CT 

Oldenburg,  1852,  1-30  thaler,  black  on  blue 16  16  16  40  0 

Parma,  1852, 25  cent,  black  on  purple  04  04  04  46 

St.  Vincent,  1889,  4 pence,  yellow 0 8 0 8 1 6 120  0 

Saxony,  1850,  3 pfennige,  red 16  26  25  0 140  0 

Switzerland,  Basle,  1845,  2 % rap.,  blue,  black 

and  carmine 26  26  56  140  0 

United  States,  1869,  90  cent,  carmine  and  black.  6 0 6 0 10  0 140  0 

Virgin  Islands,  1867,  1 sh.,  rose  and  black 2 0 2 0 2 0 110  0 


“ Yon  can  see  at  a glance  what  an  investment 
we  could,  have  made  if  we  had  known  of  this  years 
ago,  especially  in  the  advance  noticeable  in  the 
last  ten  years.  By  the  way,  if  you  want  a very 
instructive  book  on  stamps  of  high  literary  order, 
get  a copy  of  this  ‘ Stamp  Collector,5  written  by 
W.  J.  Hardy  and  E.  D.  Bacon,  two  leading 
philatelists  of  London.  The  main  reason,  of 
course,  of  the  marvelous  and  almost  incredible  ad- 
vance in  the  value  of  stamps  is  the  rapidly  increas- 
ing number  of  collectors,  and  from  necessity  these 
rare  stamps,  of  which  only  so  few  were  issued, 
must  increase  in  value.  Fashions  change  in  col- 
lecting stamps  as  in  anything  else,  and  a large 
majority  of  the  stamps  fluctuate  more  or  less  as 
to  price,  but  as  said  before,  Doc. , you  make  no 
mistake  in  collecting  the  United  States  and 
Canada  revenues.  They  afford  a better  invest- 
ment for  your  money  than  anything  I know  of. 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


99 


But  I must  go,  Doctor,  if  I am  to  do  anything 
with  your  competitors.  Do  you  think  of  any- 
thing else  in  plasters?  55 

“Did  I order  any  fever  thermometers?  55 
“No.55 

“Well,  better  send  me  a half  dozen  like  I had 
last.  Where  can  I get  a copy  of  that  ‘ Stamp 
Collector 5 you  quote  ? 55 

< ‘ I don’t  know,  Doc. , if  it  is  on  sale  here  or 
not,  but  two  dollars  will  bring  it  to  you  from 
Stanley  Gibbons,  London,  England,  where  I get 
mine. 55 


CHAPTER  IX. 


HOW  I FIRST  BECAME  INTERESTED  IN  MATCH  AND 
MEDICINE  STAMPS. 

‘ £ Can’t  you  telegraph  your  house  a rush  order 
for  gauze  ? Our  boiler  factory  blew  up  here  yes- 
terday, and  quite  a number  were  hurt.  It  has 
cleaned  us  out  of  that  class  of  stuff.” 

“Sure,  let  us  have  it,  Doctor.” 

“Well,  put  down  one  hundred  pounds  cotton 
and  five  hundred  yards  plain  gauze,  and  dozen 
five  yard  jars  of  each  corrosive  sublimate  and  ten 
per  cent,  iodoform.  That’s  enough;  I have  all  I 
want  of  plasters,  except  rubber  adhesive.  You 
might  give  me  a dozen  yard  rolls  and  a half  dozen 
tin  spools.  ” 

“All  right,  Doc.,  I’ll  wire  the  whole  business. 
That  is  more  than  I have  done  so  far  this  week. 
I don’t  like  to  hear  of  anyone  being  hurt,  but  if 
there  were  no  accidents  in  the  country  my  job 
wouldn’t  last  very  long  in  this  line,  and  I would 

have  to  depend  altogether  on  my  stamp  finds.” 

100 


STAMP  HUSTTIKG, 


101 


“What  have  you  found  since  you  were  here 
last?  I am  adding  to  my  collection  every  day. 
I bought  from  Wolseiffer’s  last  auction  sale  some 
good  match  stamps  at  less  than  half  catalogue.  T 
believe  putting  money  into  that  class  of  stamps 
is  about  as  well  invested  as  to  put  it  into  any- 
thing, don’t  you  ? ” 

“Yes,  they  are  much  scarcer  than  the  medicine 
varieties  comparatively,  and  many  of  them  can’t 
be  had  at  even  full  catalogue  price.  As  I told  you  I 
very  seldom  find  any,  but  I made  a good  strike 
last  week  down  here  in  Roodhouse,  on  the  Alton 
road.  It  is  one  of  the  few  towns  in  Illinois 
where  drugs  and  groceries  are  combined.  I 
didn’t  get  much  in  the  drug  department,  but  the 
proprietor  himself  asked  me  if  match  stamps  were 
any  good,  that  he  believed  he  had  a case  of 
matches  down  stairs  that  had  stamps.  I told  him 
that  I never  found  any  match  stamps  that  I could 
pay  much  for,  and  that  was  no  lie  either,  because 
I never  found  any  that  I could  pay  anything  for; 
but  I would  look  at  them. 

“Well,  we  went  down  stairs,  and  after  a good 
deal  of  digging,  found  the  case  which  contained 
five  hundred  boxes  of  Ives  & Judd  on  pink 


102 


STA.MP  HUNTIKG, 


paper,  only  catalogued  fifteen  cents  each,  but  a 
good  stamp  and  priced  too  low.  I told  the  drug- 
gist I might  trade  them  off  for  medicine  stamps 
and  asked  him  what  he  wanted  for  them.  ‘ Oh,  I 
don’t  know,’  he  says.  ‘The  matches  are  no 
good.  They  won’t  light  and  I was  going  to  throw 
them  away  anyhow.  You  may  have  the  whole 
shooting  match  for  two  dollars,  case  and  all.  ’ 

‘ ‘ ‘ Give  you  a dollar  and  a half.  ’ 

‘ ‘ ‘ But  you  got  to  come  and  get  them.  I 
won’t  deliver  them  anywhere  for  that,’  he  said. 

‘ ‘ Well,  Doc. , I sent  them  by  express  to  Chicago, 
and  forty  dollars  profit  seems  to  be  in  sight  for 
me  out  of  the  transaction.  Have  you  a copy  of 
the  stamp?  I'll  give  you  a few,  you  can  trade 
them  off.  ” 

“All  right,  much  obliged.  I haven’t  it  any- 
way. What  else  did  you  find  ? ” 

“I  found  something  in  a little  town  on  the 
Mississippi  river  in  Iowa,  something  that  would 
make  you  weep.  I called  at  the  only  drug  store 
in  the  place,  and  incidentally,  of  course,  to  my 
selling  him  plasters,  asked  him  if  he  had  any 
stuff  with  the  old  revenue  stamps,  to  which  he 
replied  that  he  didn’t  think  so,  but  he  had  a boy 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


103 


that  was  somewhat  of  a stamp  crank.  ‘ Come  back 
here,  in  the  back  room, 5 said  he,  c and  I will  show 
yon  something.’ 

“I  went,  and  over  the  wash  outfit,  Doc.,  pasted 
on  the  wall  was  really  a sight  to  behold.  There 
was  a big  picture  of  George  Washington,  fully 
three  times  the  natural  size,  made  out  of  Wash- 
ington heads  cut  out  of  ten  cent  1847,  catalogued 
four  dollars  each.  By  actual  count  there  were 
six  hundred  and  eighty-six  of  them,  and  the  eyes 
were  from  the  New  York  stamp,  a larger  head  of 
Washington.  You  understand  the  boy  had  cut 
out  the  little  round  heads,  and  pasted  them  on 
the  wall  so  it  was  a perfect  big  head  of  Washing- 
ton. The  druggist  said  his  father  left  the  stamps 
on  his  old  correspondence  and  his  son  conceived 
the  idea,  which  he  thought  was  pretty  good.  I 
didn’t  say  anything,  and  I am  keeping  the  place 
a secret,  but  the  next  time  I get  there  I am  going 
to  buy  that  side  of  the  wall  if  I have  to  tear  down 
the  drug  store.  That  picture  intact  will  be  some- 
thing that  can’t  be  matched  at  a stamp  ex- 
hibit.” 

“ That’s  a fact.  You  ought  to  get  first  prize 
for  oddity.  I have  heard  of  papering  walls  with 


104 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


cheaper  kinds,  and  I read  the  other  day  of  a fel- 
low making  a big  complete  map  of  Europe  out  of 
old  stamps,  taking  many  thousands  of  them,  but 
I never  heard  of  so  many  rare  stamps.  Fifteen 
hundred  to  two  thousand  dollars’  worth  used  for 
that  purpose  !” 

“ Yes,  but  he  didn’t  know  they  were  worth  any- 
thing. If  he  did  he  would  think  his  son  was  not  so 
much  of  an  artist,  but  more  of  a damn  fool.  ” 

“It  is  funny  how  many  different  views  the 
druggists  have  of  this  stamp  business.  Most  of 
?vhem  reason  with  me  that  the  stuff  will  sell  better 
with  the  stamps  off  anyhow,  but  there  is  one  in 
Kansas  City,  a Mr.  H.  C.  Arnold,  who,  by  the 
way,  has  the  oldest  store  in  the  town,  who  thinks 
differently.  He  had  a dozen  boxes  on  hand  of 
Harter’s  old  pills,  each  box  bearing  four  stamps 
on  pink  paper,  cataloguing  one  dollar  each  and 
worth  fifty  cents  at  least.  But  my  argument  of 
the  pills  selling  better  stampless  did  not  work. 
Although  they  were  so  old  they  rattled  like  shot, 
and  were  all  dried  up,  Mr.  Arnold  said  he  still 
had  customers  for  them,  and  he  was  afraid  if  he 
took  the  stamps  off  they  would  think  they  were  no 
good  or  counterfeit.  I did  not  want  to  pay  a dollar  a 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


105 


box  for  the  pills  just  to  get  the  stamps,  but  he 
did  not  seem  anxious  to  sell  for  any  less.  Finally 
he  gave  me  one  for  6 my  little  boy  who  was  mak- 
ing a collection, 5 and  every  time  I go  there  I got 
one  on  the  same  plea,  till  I finally  got  five,  going 
from  one  clerk  to  another.  Last  month  I had 
the  same  song  and  dance,  and  Mr.  Arnold  asked  me 
how  many  ‘ little  boys 5 I had  collecting  stamps. 

u I was  in  Cairo,  Illinois,  a few  days  afterward, 
and  saw  in  the  showcase  of  the  leading  drug  store 
a few  rather  common  but  desirable  stamps,  and 
sprung  the  1 little  boy  ’ whine  on  the  proprietor, 
and  he  replied,  ‘ Oh,  I am  onto  you,  and  your 
“little  boy  ” act.  You  can’t  roast  me  as  you  did 
the  other  druggists.  I read  your  ads.  in  the 
“ Era,”  and  I am  somewhat  of  a stamp  crank  my- 
self.’ So  you  see,  Doc.,  I don’t  have  pie  all  the 
time  in  my  travels.  ” 

‘ ‘ But  you  can’t  expect  to  be  always  lucky. 
Think  of  us  poor  druggists  giving  you  all  of  this 
valuable  stuff  for  practically  nothing,  for  your 
‘ little  boy,  ’ while  their  own  real  little  boy  can’t 
get  enough  money  out  of  their  daddies’  to  buy  a 
fish  line.  Still  you  do  just  as  any  one  else 
would,  and  are  honest  enough.” 


106 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


“I  wouldn’t  take  an  undue  advantage  of  any- 
one. I don’t  want  something  for  nothing,  but  if 
a druggist  says  that  the  stamps  didn’t  cost  him 
anything;  you  may  have  them,  or  for  a dollar  or 
fifty  cents,  or  whatever  it  is,  I would  be  a fool  to 
give  him  any  more.” 

4 4 That’s  so,  but  you  were  going  to  tell  me  how 
you  got  onto  hunting  through  the  country  for  old 
stamps,  and  how  you  first  became  interested  in 
the  match  and  medicine  varieties.” 

“ Well,  Doc.,  three  years  ago  if  I were  you  or 
in  the  drug  business  myself,  and  to  anybody  com- 
ing along  like  I am  doing  now,  asking  for  old 
stamps,  whether  he  had  a 4 little  boy’  or  not,  I 
would  not  hesitate  at  all  to  give  away  what  I had. 

“I  told  you  I was  a very  enthusiastic  collector 
of  postage  stamps  along  in  the  seventies,  and  up 
to  1884,  when  my  collection  was  stolen  in  Wyom- 
ing. In  those  days  all  revenue  stamps  were  con- 
sidered as  trash  and  labels,  and  no  one  collected 
them  that  I knew  of,  and  there  was  no  value 
placed  on  them,  at  least  not  till  many  years  after- 
ward, when  Mr.  E.  B.  Sterling  got  out  his  cat- 
alogue. In  fact,  I had  lost  track  of  the  value  of 
all  kinds  of  stamps  and  all  interest  in  them,  and 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


107 


if  my  collection  had  turned  up  in  1895,  and  any- 
one had  offered  me  fifty  dollars  for  it,  I would 
have  taken  it  in  a minute,  although  the  catalogue 
value  at  the  present  time,  as  I remember,  must  be 
nearly  two  thousand  dollars.  I had  many  stamps 
worth  now  at  least  twenty-five  dollars  to  fifty  dol- 
lars each. 

44  Well,  I was  at  the  National  hotel  in  Peoria 
one  day,  three  years  ago  this  summer,  and  one 
evening  a Mr.  A.  L.  Palmer,  who  represented 
and  still  represents  Parke,  Davis  & Co. , asked  me 
up  into  his  room  to  look  at  some  old  stamps  he 
had  taken  from  the  drug  stocks  in  the  city.  I 
wasn’t  particularly  interested,  but  having  nothing 
to  do,  went  up  with  him.  4 They  are  not  worth 
anything,’  says  I,  as  he  spread  a lot  of  them  on 
the  bed;  4 no  one  will  pay  you  any  money  for 
them.  ’ 

44  4 I don’t  know  about  that,’  he  said.  4 There 
are  some  of  them  catalogued  five  to  ten  dollars.’ 

4 4 He  handed  me  Scott’s  catalogue,  that  I hadn’t 
seen  for  fifteen  years,  and  as  he  called  out  the 
stamps  I would  give  the  price.  At  first  we 
thought  we  had  a dozen  of  Jaynes’  uncut  on  old 
paper,  but  we  were  mistaken,  as  neither  of  us 


108 


STAMP  HUKTISTG. 


knew  what  c die  cut*  or  c water  marked*  was.  Any- 
how, the  lot  figured  up  nearly  a hundred  dollars 
catalogue,  and  Palmer  said  he  was  going  to  New 
York  the  next  week  and  sell  them  to  Scott.  But 
I became  much  interested  and  reasoned  out  if 
there  was  anything  in  this  stamp  hunting  I was 
good  as  he.  I turned  to  the  postage  and  foreign 
listed  in  the  catalogue,  and  was  astounded  to  see 
the  prices  quoted,  some  ten  to  twenty  times  the 
prices  asked  in  the  seventies.  ‘ You  can  get 
another  catalogue  in  New  York.  Sell  me  this 
one,5  I says  to  him,  and  he  does  so,  and  I com- 
menced to  study  it  right  away,  and  decided  to 
collect  stamps  again.  Palmer  told  me  of  Mr. 
Caswell  of  Hayes  & Caswell,  druggists  in  Rock- 
ford, Illinois,  as  being  a low-priced  dealer  in 
stamps,  as  well  as  having  a fine  collection.  I was 
due  in  Rockford  the  next  week,  and  was  very  cor- 
dially received  by  Dr.  Caswell,  whom  I found 
very  sociable  and  enthusiastic  over  stamps  of  all 
kinds,  but  prices  seemed  so  all-fired  high  on  the 
old  issues  that  I had  been  familiar  with  that  I 
decided  to  go  slow,  and  limited  my  purchases  to 
a dollar.  He  was  very  free  with  his  advice  and 
telling  me  about  what  certain  medicines,  etc.,  I 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


109 


could  find  rare  stamps  on  in  my  travels  around 
the  country,  and  for  such  information  I owe  much 
of  my  success  in  the  finds  that  I have  made.  I 
soon  accumulated  a whole  raft  of  medicine  stamps, 
but  unlike  the  postage,  even  then,  three  years 
ago,  they  were  not  in  popular  demand.  I reas- 
oned out,  however,  a demand  could  be  created 
for  them  if  persistently  advertised,  and  brought 
before  the  stamp  collecting  public  in  an  original 
way.  With  that  end  in  view  I gave  a yearly 
contract  to  c Jewett’s  Philatelic  Era’  of  Portland, 
Maine,  the  best  stamp  paper  of  them  all,  in  my 
opinion,  and  in  two  years’  time,  Doc.,  neither  my- 
self nor  any  other  dealer  could  adequately  fill  the 
demand.  From  nothing  I soon  had  several  thou- 
sand dollars  worth  of  those  stamps  out  on  appro- 
val all  the  time,  and  to-day  the  business  is  only 
iecreased  for  the  reason  that  myself  and  other 
stamp  hunters  since,  have  exhausted  the  drug 
stores  of  the  stamps,  and  many  are  not  to  be  had 
at  any  price.” 

‘ ‘ And  I am  glad  you  started  me  into  collecting 
them.  I can  see  now  it  has  bee&i  money  well 
spent.  As  you  said,  the  stamps  will  never  be 
cheaper,  and  must  become  on  the  contrary,  higher 


110 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


in  value,  for  there  are  fewer  stamps  and  mo? 
collectors  for  them  each  year.  If  we  only  kn«  / 
this  years  ago.” 

“Yes,  but  we  didn’t,  and  to  think,  Doc.,  only  iso 
short  time  ago  as  three  years,  I was  afraid  to  go 
higher  than  a dollar  on  my  purchases  for  stamps 
worth  five  times  that,  even  by  this  time.  ” 

“Yes,  I suppose  if  Dr.  Caswell  had  offered  you 
a six  cent  orange  proprietary  for  a dollar,  you 
would  probably  think  you  would  get  stuck  on  it. 
I am  beginning  to  think  there  is  no  such  stamp 
as  that.  I hear  you  say  you  will  find  them,  and 
that  others  have  got  them,  but  I want  to  see  one 
before  I believe  it.  I am  getting  suspicious.” 

£ ‘ But  try  me  once  more,  Doc.  I have  an  idea 
I’ll  run  onto  these  stamps  before  long.” 


CHAPTER  X. 


SOME  NOTED  STAMP  COLLECTIONS. 

c ‘ 1 have  been  looking  for  you  for  a week  back. 
Bauer  & Black’s  man,  Spear,  was  in  here  a few 
days  ago  and  said  you  would  be  along  soon.  He 
tells  me  he  worked  a coup  de  main  on  you.  How 
was  that?” 

‘ ‘ Talk  about  your  diplomacy,  Doc. ; it  is  no 
wonder  he  draws  one  of  the  largest  salaries  of  any 
traveler  in  the  business.  He  is  not  only  a stem- 
winder,  but  a stem-setter,  judging  from  the  way 
he  set  me  up  in  St.  Louis;  but  I’ll  get  even  with 
him  yet.” 

“How  was  it?  Got  you  full,  probably?” 

“I  don’t  know  what  you  call  it,  but  I lost  two 
days  in  my  calendar.  It  was  this  way:  I was 

selling  to  one  of  his  customers  in  St.  Louis,  when 
he  dropped  into  the  store.  I had  never  met  the 
gentleman,  and  in  a friendly  conversation  he  in- 
vited me  to  have  something.  I am  not  much  in 
the  habit  of  irrigating  to  any  extent,  but  being 

our  first  acquaintance  I concluded  to  be  sociable. 

in 


112 


STAMP  HUKTING. 


He  wanted  me  to  try  something  new  and  real 
good.  It  tasted  first-rate.  Then  he  had  one  on 
me,  and  then  the  barkeeper  wanted  us  to  have 
one  on  him.  By  that  time  I didn’t  know  whether 
I was  selling  porous  plasters,  swapping  stamps  or 
riding  horseback.  The  result  of  it  all  was,  I 
didn’t  know  anything  for  nearly  two  days.  I 
started  for  Springfield,  as  I supposed,  that  Friday 
night;  but  on  my  arrival  at  the  depot  the  ticket 
agent  said  that  that  train  did  not  leave  on  Sun- 
days. He  just  wanted  to  get  ahead  of  me,  but 
I am  laying  for  him.  The  next  time  we  meet  for 
a social  round-up  something  will  drop  in  his  glass 
that  will  give  him  a Rip  Yan  Winkle  kind  of  a 
sleep.” 

“Yes,  that  was  pretty  rough  for  the  first 
round,  for  a fact,  but  I should  judge  for  one  to 
trot  with  him  he  would  have  to  drink  ten- 
penny  nails.  But  changing  the  subject  to  stamps, 
you  can’t  get  out  of  town  till  to-morrow,  any- 
how, so  come  up  to  the  house  after  supper  and 
tell  me  more  about  the  noted  collections  of  the 
country.  It  is  my  night  off.” 

“All  right,  I will.” 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


113 


“ Speaking  of  the  leading  collections  and  those 
famous  for  their  great  value,  no  one  disputes  the 
fact,  Doctor,  but  that  Monsieur  P.  Yon  Ferrary 
of  Paris  owns  the  largest  and  most  valuable  col- 
lection of  postage  stamps  in  the  world.  Its  mon- 
etary value  at  this  time  is  conservatively  estimated 
by  those  better  able  to  judge  than  I am,  at  seven 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  He  started  in  collect- 
ing in  1864,  since  which  time  his  labors  to  pro- 
cure every  stamp  have  been  persistent  and  un- 
tiring. Not  only  is  he  not  satisfied  in  obtaining 
both  a used  and  unused  specimen  of  each  stamp,  but 
the  slightest  variation  in  paper,  watermark,  ink, 
perforation,  etc. , constitutes  a variety  and  is  con- 
sidered by  him  as  admissible  to  his  collection. 
He  has  spent  fortunes  for  stamps,  and  dealers  in 
every  part  of  the  globe  have  him  for  a patron  if 
they  are  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  anything  he 
wants. 

“Up  to  1882  Judge  Philbrick  was  the  leading 
authority  on  philatelic  matters,  and  had,  no  doubt, 
the  best  collection  of  stamps  in  Great  Britain. 
In  November  of  this  year  he  sold  his  collection 
to  Yon  Ferrary  for  thirty-eight  thousand  dollars. 
At  this  time  this  sum  seemed  enormous  for  a col- 


114 


STAMP  HUNTING.  ' 


lection  of  stamps,  but  to-day  the  collection  is 
■worth  fully  four  times  that  amount.  Monsieur 
P.  Yon  Ferrary  has  in  his  collection  the  one  cent 
British  Guiana  of  1856,  the  only  copy  known 
and  almost  priceless  in  value;  at  least  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  wouldn’t  buy  it,  and  is  considered  by 
experts  as  worth  even  more  than  that,  as  the  ten 
cent  Baltimore,  of  which  several  copies  are 
known,  recently  sold  for  over  four  thousand  dol- 
lars. He  also  has  at  least  four  of  the  rare  two 
cent  Mauritius,  a pair  of  which  was  sold  in  1896 
to  a French  collector  for  forty  thousand  francs, 
or  eight  thousand  dollars. 

£ ‘ The  keeping  of  such  a collection  and  the  care 
of  it,  with  all  the  correspondence,  etc.,  it  entails, 
necessitates  the  employment  of  several  persons, 
devoting  their  entire  time  to  it.  I have  never 
seen  the  collection,  but  those  knowing  about  it 
say  it  is  superbly  arranged  on  unbound  slips  of 
stiff  paper,  and  surely  must  be  a philatelic  feast 
once  seen  never  to  be  forgotten. 

‘ ‘ The  late  T.  K.  Tapling,  M.  P. , who  died  in  1892, 
bequeathed  his  magnificent  collection  to  the  British 
Museum,  and  it  can  now  be  safely  valued  at  close 
to  four  hundred  thousand  dollars.  His  collection 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


115 


contained  fiscal  and  telegraph  stamps  as  well  as 
stamped  envelopes.  He  never  would  take  a used 
specimen  if  it  was  possible  to  obtain  it  unused, 
or  unless  in  a used  state  it  was  of  more  value 
than  the  same  stamp  unused. 

uMr.  W.  B.  Avery,  a manufacturer  near 
London,  probably  has  the  finest  collection  in 
Great  Britain,  next  to  the  Tapling  collection. 
Mr.  Castle,  a Sussex  magistrate,  has  a collection 
worth  a very  large  sum.  In  1894  he  sold  a por- 
tion of  it  for  fifty  thousand  dollars.  One  of  the 
Rothschilds  has  amassed  a very  valuable  collec- 
tion, and  those  possessed  by  the  late  Mr.  Gilbert 
Harrison,  from  Afghanistan,  Cashmere  and  Japan 
alone,  are  worth  close  to  sixty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars. I could  also  mention  the  Duke  of  York’s, 
Major  Evans’,  Dr.  Le  Grand’s  of  Paris  and  many 
others  in  Europe,  but  you  are,  Doctor,  probably 
more  interested— at  least  I am,  in  the  collections 
of  note  in  the  United  States.  Without  a ques- 
tion of  doubt,  the  most  valuable  collection  on  this 
continent  is  owned  by  Mr.  H,  J.  Duveen  of  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York,  but  in  reality  his  home  is  in 
England,  and  he  should  come  in  as  a foreign  col- 
lector Mr,  F,  W.  Ayer  of  Bangor,  Maine  wa$ 


116 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


until  recently,  when  he  sold  a part  of  his  col- 
lection for  fifty  thousand  pounds  to  a London 
firm,  one  of  the  largest  stamp  collectors  of  recent 
years.  He  only  commenced,  virtually,  in  1892. 
He  made  a specialty  of  United  States  and  British 
colonies,  and  bought  right  and  left  all  over  the 
world,  paying  out  thousands  of  dollars  every 
week  for  stamps.  His  expenditures  for  the  St. 
Louis  provisional  stamps  are  said  to  have  been 
over  twenty  thousand  dollars.  If  there  were  any 
great  rarities  lacking  in  his  collection  it  was  for 
the  reason  that  money  could  not  buy  them,  or 
that  they  were  not  to  be  found. 

“One  of  the  best  collections,  and  probably  the 
very  best  in  the  United  States  and  Hawaii,  is 
owned  by  Mr.  Henry  J.  Crocker  of  San  Fran- 
cisco. Those  who  have  carefully  looked  over  his 
collection  in  all  its  details,  place  a value  on  it  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  He  fol- 
lows out  the  European  plan  of  collecting  used 
and  unused  specimens — that  is,  one  page  used  and 
the  next  unused.  Most  of  the  countries  are  com- 
plete, or  nearly  so,  like  Brazil,  in  blocks  and 
pairs;  Tobago,  Turks  Island,  British  Honduras, 
unused— New  Foundland,  etc.  His  collection  in- 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


117 


eludes  nearly  all  of  the  great  rarities,  and  many 
unique  and  matchless  stamps.  His  Japanese 
stamps  are  very  rare  as  he  has  them,  and  include 
all  the  varieties  of  shades,  perforations,  and  plate 
numbers;  most  of  them  obtained  direct  from  the 
imperial  Japanese  post  office.  His  collection 
stands  among  the  first  in  having  rarities  in 
errors  and  uncatalogued  varieties,  the  value  of 
which  it  is  i lmost  impossible  to  determine. 

“ My  friend,  Mr.  H.  E.  Deats  of  Flemington, 
N.  J.,  has  a wonderful  collection  of  stamps  and 
everything  e se  of  a philatelic  character.  His 
particular  hobby  is  the  postmaster’s  stamps  of 
both  the  United  States  and  Confederate  States. 
He  has  copies  of  the  rare  Milbury,  the  Brattle- 
boro,  Yt.,  local  stamp,  catalogued  at  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  full  sheets  of  Prov- 
idence stamps,  but  the  matchless  lot  is  the  thirty 
copies  of  the  St.  Louis  stamp,  including  the  first 
and  second  plates  complete,  not  one  of  which  but 
could  be  sold  to-day  at  auction  for  two  hundred 
dollars,  and  from  that  up  to  several  thousand  dol- 
lars per  stamp.  He  has  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  copies  of  the  five  cent  black  New  York,  worth 
close  to  two  thousand  dollars  or  ten  dollars  each, 


118 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


and  entire  sheets  and  blocks  of  other  rare  stamps. 
He  accumulates  duplicates  of  good  stamps  by  the 
barrel,  and  could  start  up  a dozen  dealers  with  stocks 
to  sell  from  that  couldn’t  be  equaled.  He  subscribes 
for  every  stamp  paper  published,  or  about  to  be 
published,  in  any  and  every  part  of  the  globe, 
and  has  bought  thousands  of  papers  concerning 
stamps,  so  that  he  has  an  unequaled  stock  of 
philatelic  literature  which  he  exchanges  for  others 
needed  to  complete  his  library. 

“Mr.  John  F.  Seybold,  a dry  goods  merchant 
of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  has  a collection  of  stamps 
almost  complete,  numbering  over  thirty-seven 
thousand  varieties.  It  was  started  in  his  early 
school  days,  over  thirty  years  ago,  and  he  has 
never  lost  interest  in  it,  and  has  devoted  all  his 
spare  time  and  money  to  its  completion.  He  also 
is  devoted  to  all  publications  concerning  philately, 
and  his  library  on  stamp  matters  alone  comprises 
over  five  hundred  volumes.  Whatever  may  be 
said  of  the  pre-eminence  of  other  stamp  collections 
over  his,  one  thing  is  certain,  his  leads  them  all  in 
the  number  of  rare  stamps  on  the  original  covers. 

“ Years  ago,  dealers  laughed  at  his  preferring 
stamps  this  way,  while  others  took  them  off  the 


STAMP  HXJOTISTG. 


119 


cover.  But  they  laugh  the  best  who  laugh  last, 
and  to-day,  especially  the  rare  stamps,  are  much 
enhanced  in  value  by  being  on  the  original  cover. 

“Mr.  William  Thorne,  residing  in  New  York, 
has  a collection  many  say  second  only  to  Mr. 
Duveen’s.  At  the  London  Stamp  Exhibition  a 
short  time  ago,  he  received  the  first  gold  medal 
for  the  hundred  rarest  stamps  exhibited,  which 
averaged  a value  of  hundreds  of  dollars 
each,  and  included  a block  of  four  U.  S.  24  cent 
1869  inverted  medallion,  the  thirteen  cent  Ha- 
waiian first  issue,  the  India  four  anna  blue  and 
red  with  inverted  head — one  of  the  very  rarest  of 
stamps,  and  a copy  of  the  rare  Brattleboro  stamp 
with  the  imprint  of  the  engraver  attached,  prob- 
ably the  only  one  in  existence  in  that  condition. 

“Mr.  J.  M.  Andreini,  another  New  Yorker, 
is  a true  philatelist,  ‘a  lover  of  stamps,’  and 
considering  the  short  time  he  has  been  collecting, 
can  show  one  of  the  best  collections  in  the  coun- 
try,  particularly  in  entire  sheets  of  some  of  the 
rarest  stamps,  and  in  all  varieties  of  shades.  At 
the  various  stamp  meetings  he  always  has  some- 
thing unusual  and  unheard  of  to  show,  no  matter 
what  country  is  desired. 


120 


STAMP  ^PUNTING. 


“Mr.  Gilbert  E.  Jones  has  also  a collection  of 
stamps,  unique  and  matchless.  Setting  aside  his 
fine  general  collection  of  fifteen  thousand  varie- 
ties, recently  he  has  made  a specialty  of  collecting 
nothing  but  unperforated  pairs,  that  many  fail  to 
get  any  of,  but  of  which  he  is  the  proud  possessor 
of  over  twelve  hundred  varieties. 

‘ ‘ Mr.  W.  A.  Castle,  living  in  Springfield,  Mas- 
sachusetts, confines  his  collection  of  stamps  to  the 
United  States  varieties,  of  which  he  has  nearly 
everything  that  it  is  possible  for  money  to  obtain. 
I could  also  mention  the  collections  of  P.  F. 
Bruner,  Alexander  Smith,  F.  W.  Hunter,  Mr. 
Foster  of  Boston,  Dr.  Bowers  of  Bridgeport, 
Connecticut,  and  Mr.  Olney,  ex-Mayor  of  Provi- 
dence, Rhode  Island,  and  President  of  the  Ameri- 
can Philatelic  Association  and  many  others,  but 
it  is  late,  Doc. , and  I must  go.  ” 

‘ ‘ Oh,  don’t  be  in  a hurry,  old  man.  But  I can 
hardly  believe  but  that  you’re  stretching  these 
things  a little.  Aren’t  those  values  you  place  on 
these  collections  fictitious,  or  made  arbitrary  by 
the  owner?” 

“No,  sir.  As  a matter  of  fact  I have  placed 
conservative  values  on  most  of  them,  prices  that 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


121 


are  offered  in  cash  for  the  collections.  Mr.  Sell- 
schopp  of  San  Francisco  places  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  the  market  value  of  Mr.  Crocker’s 
collection,  that  I say  is  worth  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand.  The  latter  sum,  anyway,  would 
not  buy  it  from  him,  and  it  is  a known  fact  that 
four  thousand  four  hundred  dollars  was  paid  here 
in  the  United  States  for  a ten  cent  Baltimore 
provisional  issue,  that  a young  fellow  stumbled 
on  and  picked  up  in  a lawyer’s  office  in  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky,  for  nothing.” 

“Well,  well;  I am  astounded.  I think  I’ll 
collect  postage  stamps  and  keep  it  up,  but  you 
have  me  started  now  on  the  match  and  medicine 
varieties.  Who  has  the  best  collection  of  these 
stamps?  ” 

“That  is  a hard  question,  Doctor.  But  unless 
Mr.  Deats  is  hiding  away  the  best  part  of  his 
collection,  I think  Mr.  E.  C.  Farnsworth  of  Port- 
land, Maine,  has  the  best,  and  has  duplicates  of 
most  of  the  rarities,  besides  a large  number  of 
uncatalogued  varieties  of  great  value,  including 
the  four  cent  Ayer  green,  four  cent  Jayne  & Co. 
yellow,  E.  T.  Hazeltine  unperforated,  etc.  He  has 
a complete  set  of  the  Swaim  stamps,  and  one  of 


122 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


them  at  least  cannot  be  matched,  which  he  pro- 
cured from  Mr.  Yanderlip  of  Boston.  A sheet 
of  the  William  Swaim  was  printed  with  no  name 
in  the  oval.  Mr.  Y.  took  the  stamp  to  Mr. 
James  Swaim,  then  living  and  had  him  write  his 
signature  on  it.  Among  other  rarities,  he  owns 
by  far  the  largest  and  most  complete  set  of  match 
wrappers,  including  many  that  are  not  catalogued. 
Mr.  Vanderiip  has,  or  did  have,  the  rare  Thomas 
E.  Wilson,  four  cent  black,  and  previous  to  the 
breaking  up  of  his  collections,  possibly  ranked 
first  in  this  department.  The  two  cent  Caterson 
& Brotz  playing  card  stamp,  I was  telling  you 
about,  Doc.,  rests  in  Mr.  Deats’  collection — at 
least  one  of  them  does.  The  Adenaw  collection 
of  match  and  medicine  and  revenues  that  I told 
you  sold  for  fifteen  thousand  dollars  cash,  con- 
tained many  stamps  not  found  in  any  other 
collection.  There  are  fewer  collectors  of  reve- 
nue stamps  than  there  are  of  postage,  and  that  is 
the  reason  why  so  much  more  value  is  placed  on 
the  rarities  of  the  latter,  where  only  several  are 
known,  than  on  the  revenue  stamps  where  only  a 
few  exist.  It  is  only  in  the  last  few  years  that 
match  and  medicine  stamps  have  come  into  prom- 


ST  A 31 P HUNTING. 


123 


inence,  and  many  enthusiastic  collectors  of  these 
varieties  now,  wouldn’t  touch  them  not  so  very 
long  ago.  Among  such  philatelists  is  Mr.  Jonas 

D.  Rice,  a prominent  merchant  of  Trenton,  N.  J. 
Ho  wrote  me  in  February,  1897,  to  send  him  as  a 
starter,  about  twenty-five  dollars’  worth  of  these 
stamps,  and  post  him  as  to  different  papers,  etc. 
I did  so,  and  he  took  them  all,  ordered  more  and 
has  been  doing  so  ever  since,  not  only  from  me, 
but  from  every  other  dealer  able  to  supply  him 
with  anything  different  from  what  he  already 
had.  His  collection  is  now  so  far  advanced  that 
I cannot  supply  him  with  anything  more,  and  for 
condition,  is  equal  or  superior  to  any.  Our  friend 
Gurley  has  a fine  lot  of  these  stamps,  as  well  as 
a fine  general  collection.  So  has  Dr.  Stein  of 
Muscatine,  Iowa,  Mr.  N.  H.  Withee  of  LaCrosse, 
Wisconsin,  Dr.  James  H.  Stebbins  of  New  York, 
J.  W.  George  and  many  others  I could  mention, 
Doc. , if  I had  time.  The  best  collections  of  these 
match  and  medicine  stamps,  however,  are,  Mr. 

E.  C.  Farnsworth’s,  Mr.  Deats’  and  Mr.  Ade- 
naw’s.  But  before  I go,  I must  just  mention  the 
treasures  of  Mr.  J.  N.  Luff,  connected  with  the 
Scott  Stamp  & Coin  Company,  and,  as  I told  you 


124 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


before,  compiler  of  the  standard  catalogue  of  the 
day.  He  is  the  most  cordial  and  pleasing  of  men 
to  meet,  and  no  one  disputes  the  position  he  holds 
in  this  country  as  the  leading  authority  in  every 
thing  of  a philatelic  character.  He  is  a closf 
student  of  stamps,  and  his  labors  have  been  un- 
remitting to  foster  and  help  philately  from  an 
artistic  and  scientific  standpoint.  He  probably  is 
the  only  one  having  a large  and  valuable  collec- 
tion, who  knows  all  his  stamps  and  just  what  he 
has.  But  he  hides  his  light  under  a bushel. 
Once  in  a while  his  closest  friends  get  a chance  to 
see  a portion  of  his  treasures,  when  their  eyes 
just  bulge.  His  hobby  is  one  of  each  stamp, 
then  a pair  of  each  stamp,  and  a pair  of  each 
shade.  Then  blocks  of  four,  the  same  way,  and 
full  sheets  when  possible  to  get  them,  and  various 
side  lines  of  splits,  double  perforations,  freaks, 
and  the  various  known  and  unknown  counterfeits 
collected  merely  for  comparison.  I don’t  know 
what  he  has  in  revenues,  but  there  is  no  doubt 
his  collection  stands  unique  in  all  the  various 
shadings,  watermarks  and  minor  varieties  of  the 
postage  stamps  of  the  world. 

‘ ‘ I could  tell  you  much  more  while  we  are  on 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


125 


the  subject,  Doctor,  but  will  defer  it  till  next 
trip.” 

‘ ‘ All  right,  but  I am  really  surprised  that  so 
much  value  and  so  much  interest  could  be  con- 
centrated in  these  old  stamps.  I wish  now  I had 
collected  thirty  years  ago,  myself.  When  are 
you  going  to  be  round  again?  ” 

“In  about  ninety  days.” 

“All  right,  I’ll  have  a large  order  for  you 
then,  but  bring  in  a six  cent  orange  proprietary, 
and  for  heaven’s  sake,  get  even  some  way  with 
Spear.  ” 


CHAPTER  XL 


IN  IOWA  AND  KANSAS. 

‘ ‘ Why  do  you  plaster  men  all  get  around  at 
the  same  time?  Every  house  in  your  line  of 
business  has  been  here  this  week,  but  I knew 
you  were  coming  and  the  other  fellows  did  not 
get  much.  Besides  I hope  to  work  you  for  more 
medicine  stamps  for  my  collection.  I am  now  in 
this  stamp  collecting  head  over  heels.  What  have 
you  found  since  you  were  here  the  last  time  ? ” 

“I  have  made  more  money  in  the  last  three 
months  out  of  stamps  than  I have  made  out  of 
plasters,  Doc.” 

“I  am  glad  to  hear  it.  Sit  down  and  tell  me 
about  it.  I may  be  a ‘ Stamp  Hunter  ’ myself 
some  of  these  days,  and  want  to  get  all  the  points 
I can.” 

“Well,  since  I was  here  three  months  ago,  I 
have  been  out  among  the  cross  roads  and  the  by- 
ways of  Iowa  and  Nebraska,  and  among  the  Pop- 
ulists and  the  whiskers  of  Kansas.  In  a town 

near  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  the  oldest  drug  store 
126 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


127 


there  was  ripe  for  a good  stamp  hunt,  although 
some  of  the  old-time  medicine  had  been  exchanged 
or  sold  to  some  Chicago  house,  who  makes  a busi- 
ness of  buying  up  such  stuff.  I sprung  my  usual 
gag  on  the  proprietor,  that  I was  getting  together 
in  my  travels  all  these  old  stamps  ‘ for  my  little 
boy  who  was  making  a collection — that  I wasn’t 
begging  something  for  nothing,  and  I would  pay 
him  for  the  stamps.’  ‘ Besides,’  Isays,  ‘the 
goods  will  sell  better  with  the  stamps  off,  any- 
how.’ The  druggist  agreed  with  me  on  that,  and 
wanted  to  know  what  I would  pay  for  ’em. 

“ ‘ I hardly  know  till  I see,’  I told  him;  in  the 
mean  time  looking  over  some  old  stuff  in  his  pill 
case,  and  seeing  six  cent  green  proprietaries,  and 
some  other  good  stuff.  6 I’ll  tell  you  what  I’ll  do; 
my  little  boy  has  quite  a little  business  worked 
up  in  these  stamps.  He  sells  the  duplicates  to  other 
boys,  and  gets  quite  a little  money  from  them, 
and  I’ll  chance  finding  some  good  ones  in  your 
store.  I’ll  give  you  three  dollars  for  all  the 
stamps  I find  and  want,  and  will  take  them  off 
the  packages  without  damaging  the  goods.’ 

“‘Why,  yes,  that’s  all  right,’  he  said.  ‘It  is 
too  much.  I don’t  want  to  take  any  money  for 


128 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


these  old  stamps  that  ain’t  worth  anything,  but 
if  your  boy  can  sell  them  I suppose  you  know 
what  you’re  about,  though  it  is  strange  to  me  who 
would  pay  any  money  for  these  old  stamps.  Who 
buys  them,  anyhow  ? ’ 

“ ‘All  kinds  of  people,’  I replied. 

“Well,  Doctor,  I went  through  his  old  stock 
carefully,  and  after  an  hour  or  two’s  work,  found 
nearly  eighty  dollars’  worth  of  stamps,  catalogue 
value.  Among  other  good  things  were  three  four 
cent  J.  B.  Rose  on  silk.  Seven  Rumford  Chemical 
Works,  unperforated.  Five  Lyons  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  on  pink,  and  seven  ten  cent  black 
and  green  proprietaries.  The  druggist  seemed 
highly  pleased  at  the  trade,  and  I went  away  just 
as  happy.  I reached  the  depot  and  was  waiting 
for  the  train  soon  due,  hoping  in  my  mind  that  I 
could  have  the  same  luck  in  the  next  town.  The 
train  was  just  coming  in,  when  I looked  up  the 
street  and  was  surprised  to  see  my  drug  friend 
running  toward  the  depot,  frantically  waving  his 
hands  in  the  air  and  yelling  for  me  to  wait  for 
him.  I surmised  at  once  that  he  had  struck  a Scott’s 
catalogue,  or  some  one  had  informed  him  of  the 
real  value  of  the  stamps  and  I was  to  be  touched  for 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


129 


about  ten  dollars  more,  but  the  unexpected  most 
always  happens.  He  reached  me  puffing  and  blow- 
ing, just  as  the  train  was  pulling  out,  and  said: 
‘ I wanted  you  to  get  your  money’s  worth.  I 
found  three  more  of  those  ten  cent  stamps  after 
you  went  out.’ 

“The  next  town  I struck  was  Waterloo.  Here 
a druggist  thought  he  knew  all  about  stamps. 
He  wouldn’t  make  any  price  on  them.  He  didn’t 
believe  he  wanted  to  sell  them,  anyway.  Finally, 
he  told  me  I might  go  through  with  him  and  see 
what  he  had.  Some  fourteen  one  cent  1878  rou- 
letted  stamps  turned  to  light  first,  worth  about 
fifty  or  sixty  cents  each,  but  I didn’t  say  any- 
thing. We  next  turned  up  a lot  of  Oliver  Crook’s 
stamps,  but  they  were  so  damaged  they  were  of  no 
value.  Next  I offered  him  five  cents  a piece  for 
ten  C.  E.  Hull,  on  old  paper,  cataloguing  $1.50 
each,  which  he  accepted.  He  then  took  down 
four  bottles  of  stuff,  each  having  a one  cent  veu 
million  Centaur  Company  attached.  ‘ Now,  these 
are  very  rare,’  he  said.  ‘They  have  been  here 
twenty  years  that  I can  remember,  and  it  will 
take  a dollar  a piece  to  get  them.’  The  stamp  is 
hardly  worth  three  dollars  a hundred,  cataloguing 


130 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


only  five  cents,  Doc.  However,  I told  him  they 
were  rarely  found  in  drug  stores,  but  if  I should 
give  him  a dollar  a peice  for  them,  he  ought  to 
throw  in  the  one  cent  common  ones,  referring  to 
the  one  cent  rouletted,  worth  over  seven  dollars. 
‘All  right,5  he  says, ‘I’ll  do  it.  5 

“ The  next  month  after,  I met  another  ‘ stamp 
hunter, 5 who  asked  me,  ‘ Did  you  pay  old  man 
Hey  wood  in  Waterloo  one  dollar  each  for  red 
Centaur  Company  stamps  ? I’ll  sell  you  all  you 
want  for  five  cents  apiece.5  Well,  we  kept  at  it, 
going  through  everything  in  the  store.  The 
apothecary  now  had  about  seven  dollars  of  my 
money,  and  I had  about  thirty  of  his,  or  its 
equivalent,  and  we  were  both  happy,  and  still  we 
kept  digging.  ‘ Here’s  a funny  one, 5 says  the 
druggist,  as  he  turned  up  a two  cent  black  and 
green  inverted  medallion,  a rarity,  cataloguing 
twenty-five  dollars.  ‘ The  head  is  upside  down. 
I suppose  this  kind  is  no  good. 5 

“ ‘Oh  yes,5  I says,  ‘it  is  hardly  the  regular  is- 
sue, but  put  it  in  for  a dime.  The  fellow  I sell 
these  stamps  to  won’t  know  the  difference.5  And 
the  result,  Doc. , of  this  hunt  in  his  store,  netted 
me  over  fifty  dollars.55 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


131 


“ But  do  you  know  you  remind  me  of  the  story 
of  Little  Willie  ? ” 

“No,  Doc.,  who  was  Little  Willie?” 

“Little  Willie  was  a little  boy  who  was  sitting 
on  the  doorstep  by  the  side  of  Little  Annie.  Says 
Little  Willie  to  Little  Annie,  ‘ Your  father  is  my 
father,  but  you  are  not  my  sister.5  What  was 
Little  Willie  ? ” 

“Give  it  up,  Doctor.  What  was  he  ? ” 

“Little  Willie  was  a liar.” 

“But  there  is  no  lying  about  this  find,  Doc. 
I’ll  give  you  one  of  each  of  the  stamps  I found  to 
prove  it,  except  the  inverted  medallion.  That 
has  gone  East.” 

‘ ‘ All  right,  I’ll  believe  it  now.  What  else  did 
you  find  ?” 

“ For  a week  after  I didn’t  turn  up  anything. 
A fellow  traveling  through  Iowa  and  this  country 
for  a New  York  house,  has  hunted  for  stamps  in 
drug  stores  for  years,  and  it  is  only  in  isolated 
places  where  good  finds  are  now  reached;  though 
occasionally  I have  found  some  stray  stamps 
which  he  had  missed.  In  Ottawa,  Kansas,  I 
made  a peculiar  strike.  In  speaking  of  stamps  to 
the  druggist,  he  said  he  was  looking  over  his  old 


132 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


papers  a while  ago  and  found  an  old  envelope 
dated  1865,  with  this  inscription:  ‘720  one  cent 
stamps.  Put  one  on  each  small  box  of  Willis 
ague  pills,  sent  you  last  week. 5 ‘ I was  surprised, 5 

said  the  druggist,  ‘ and  had  forgotten  all  about 
the  stamps.  In  fact  I thought  they  had  been 
used  when  they  were  sent.  It  came  about  in  this 
way.  The  manufacturer  of  these  pills  sent  me 
on  five  gross,  but  forgot  to  stamp  them.  A few 
days  afterward,  along  came  the  stamps,  and  for 
some  reason  or  other  they  were  laid  aside,  and  the 
pills  were  sold  without  them.  Are  they  worth 
anything  to  you  ? 5 

‘ ‘ I offered  him,  Doctor,  two  dollars  for  the  lot 
and  he  seemed  as  pleased  to  get  the  money  as  I 
was  the  stamps,  which  were  common  enough,  be- 
ing the  one  cent  issue,  red  proprietary,  but  in  the 
condition  found,  full  sheets  and  in  their  original 
gum,  brought  about  twenty-five  dollars. 

“ In  a drug  store  in  Hutchinson,  of  the  same 
state,  I struck  some  old  liver  pads,  with  three 
cent  rouletted  stamps  on  the  boxes.  The  drug- 
gist, however,  insisted  that  he  had  no  right  to 
take  the  stamps  off,  that  it  was  against  the  law, 
and  he  had  neither  time  nor  the  inclination  to  go 


STAMP  HUHTIHG. 


133 


to  jail.  There  was  no  way  I could  get  the 
stamps,  except  by  purchasing  the  old  pads,  which 
I did,  and  then  gave  them  back  to  him  as  a 
Christmas  present.  When  I went  out,  I over- 
heard him  say  to  his  clerk,  ‘ that  fellow  must  be 
crazy.  ’ If  he  knew  I made  eight  dollars  on  the 
stamps,  he  might  think  he  was  the  one  to  be  put 
down  as  crazy. 

“But  in  Kansas,  Doctor,  the  stamped  medi- 
cines and  the  like  are  few  and  far  between.  The 
state  is  too  new,  for  many  old-timers.  In  Topeka 
I run  onto  a good  find  in  old  postage  stamps.  An 
old-timer  was  in  a drug  store,  and  heard  me  talk- 
ing with  the  proprietor,  and  asked  if  stamps  on 
old  letters  were  any  good.  ‘That  depends,5 1 
says,  6 on  what  they  are.  What  have  you  got  ? 5 
He  answered  that  he  had  an  old  box  of  war  cor- 
respondence in  his  cellar  at  home,  and  he  would 
bring  down  the  stamps  if  I would  wait.  Fearing 
he  would  tear  or  otherwise  damage  them,  I volun- 
teered to  go  up  to  his  house  with  him,  and  look 
them  over.  He  didn’t  object  to  this  at  all,  and 
for  an  hour  and  a half,  we  pored  over  old  let- 
ters and  papers  that  hadn’t  been  touched  for 
thirty  years.  Unfortunately,  however,  the  bulk 


184 


stamp  suiram 


of  the  stamps  were  of  the  common  three  cent 
issue,  though  there  were  a number  of  genuine 
pink  shade,  and  a dozen  or  more  six  cent,  1869. 
Forty  or  fifty  of  the  two  cent,  same  issue,  and 
one  fifteen  cent.  There  was  also  a lot  of  envelope 
stuff,  and  altogether  my  five  dollar  bill,  which 
highly  pleased  my  Populist  friend,  yielded  me  a 
profit  of  eight  hundred  per  cent. 

‘ ‘ I paid  out  five  dollars  in  Lawrence,  however, 
for  which  I didn’t  get  over  fifty  cents  back. 
I was  told  by  a druggist,  whose  stock  was  stamp- 
less, that  an  old  law  firm,  whose  offices  were 
overhead,  never  threw  anything  away,  and  had 
piles  of  old  letters  and  papers.  His  statement 
was  true,  and  I found  a closet  stacked  full  of 
thousands  of  letters,  tied  in  bundles  of  hun- 
dreds, and  systematically  arranged.  Those  of 
late  issue  came  first,  and  the  deeper  into  the 
closet  the  older  the  stamps  were.  Unfortunately 
I did  not  have  time  to  go  through  the  whole  of 
them,  but  I thought  to  myself  at  once  that  I had 
struck  a snap.  The  lawyers  accepted  my  five  dol- 
lars for  what  I could  find,  and  I gave  the  colored 
man  around  the  building  fifty  cents  to  take  the 
letters  out,  and  send  me  the  envelopes  with  the 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


135 


stamps  on,  by  express.  Along  a week  afterwards, 
came  a big  bundle  with  ninety  cents  express 
charges,  and  when  I returned  to  Chicago  I 
thought  I wouldn’t  have  to  travel  any  more,  at 
least  selling  plasters.  I expected  the  bundle 
would  contain  St.  Louis  stamps,  New  York, 
Brattleboro,  and  the  like.  You  can  judge  of  my 
surprise,  Doc.,  when  I tell  you  that  the  whole 
outfit  didn’t  contain  fifty  cents  worth  of  stamps. 
It  was  the  worst  lot  of  trash  I ever  received;  outside 
of  six  or  seven,  the  balance  wasn’t  worth  counting-. 

“I  quietly  investigated  the  matter,  expecting 
to  find  that  they  had  discovered  the  value  of  good 
stamps  after  I had  gone,  or  the  coon  had,  and  had 
reserved  all  those  of  value,  but  the  facts  developed 
that  I was  about  the  fourth  stamp  crank  that  had 
dug  through  that  old  closet  for  stamps,  and  each 
time,  the  letters  were  piled  back  so  as  to  give  the 
impression  from  the  front  that  the  rear  contained 
great  rarities.” 

“Yes,  old  man,  but  you  can't  expect  to  find 
good  stuff  all  the  time.  But  how  is  it  you  can  do 
so  much  in  the  stamp  hunting  and  selling  stamps, 
and  satisfy  your  house  that  you  are  holding  their 
end  up  ?” 


136 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


“Why,  Doc.,  this  stamp  business  of  mine  wins 
customers  for  my  house.  It  gives  me  a person- 
ality among  my  trade,  and  besides,  I’ll  not  allow 
it  to  interfere  with  my  regular  drug  work.  All 
travelers  have  time  forced  on  their  hands,  Sun- 
days, evenings,  or  waiting  for  trains,  etc.,  and 
instead  of  chasing  around  a billiard  table  and 
other  things,  I prefer  to  hunt  for  stamps.  I 
made  a good  solid  customer  for  Lee’s  goods  with 
a druggist  in  Missouri,  who  was  heretofore  a 
strong  Seabury  & Johnson  man.  He  had  no 
stamps  in  his  place,  but  his  ten  year  old  son 
was  a very  enthusiastic  stamp  collector.  The 
druggist  wouldn’t  listen  to  me  with  Lee’s  plast- 
ers, till  I brought  up  the  question  of  stamps, 
and  his  boy  being  in  the  store  I gave  him  about 
a dollar’s  worth  of  what  I had,  which  tickled 
the  little  fellow  hugely.  The  proprietor  was 
also  so  pleased  that  he  looked  over  my  samples 
and  gave  me  an  unexpected  large  order.  Now 
every  time  I go  there,  I bring  twenty— five 
cents’  worth  of  stamps  for  his  kid,  and  get  a 
twenty-five  dollar  order  for  plasters,  etc.,  out 
of  him.” 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THROUGH  THE  SOUTH  FOR  STAMPS. 

“ Where  have  you  been  all  winter?  So  long 
since  you  have  been  here,  thought  possibly  you 
had  uncovered  a lot  of  six  cent  orange  proprie- 
taries, and  had  then  dropped  dead.” 

“No  such  luck,  Doc.,  but  I have  not  been  so 
slow  with  good  finds,  even  if  the  coveted  stamp 
has  not  been  reached  as  yet.  Since  Christmas  I 
have  been  through  the  South,  from  Louisville  to 
Mobile,  and  along  the  Gulf  to  New  Orleans,  and 
back  via  Baton  Rouge  and  Memphis.  I have 
been  tired  picking  icicles  out  of  my  whiskers 
every  winter,  and  with  your  bum  hotels  here, 
sleeping  side  a red  hot  stove  one  night,  and  the 
next  shaking  snow  and  ice  off  of  your  bed  clothes. 
So  this  winter  I thought  best  to  make  a change 
to  picking  oranges,  and  dallying  with  the  Flora 
and  the  Fauna  of  the  Sunny  South,  particularly 
with  ‘ Flora.’” 

“Yes,  I suppose  so,  and  hugging  the  shore 
and  various  other  amusements.  It’s  a great  place 

137 


138 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


down  there  in  that  country  in  the  winter.  I was 
at  the  Mardi  Gras  in  New  Orleans  myself  sev- 
eral years  ago.  I suppose  you  didn’t  miss  that?  ” 
“No,  I took  that  all  in,  and  it  took  me  in,  too, 
and  it  was  a good  thing  I made  some  big  finds 
down  there  in  stamps,  or  I would  probably  have 
had  to  call  on  my  friend  Andy  Mulford,  of  Mof- 
fit-West  Drug  Co.,  St.  Louis,  for  money  to  get 
back.  By  the  way,  if  you  ever  go  to  St.  Louis, 
Doc. , and  get  busted,  and  want  a ‘ five  spot  ’ or  a 
6 tenner,’  call  on  him,  and  give  me  and  Wilson  as 
references.  He  acts  as  a private  banker  for  not 
only  us,  but  anyone  onto  the  act.  He  has  a 
private  roll  always  on  hand  to  accommodate  us, 
and  will  cash  any  kind  of  a check  or  draft  that  is 
offered  him.  One  day  Wilson  wrote  me  from 
Louisville,  enclosing  his  signed  check  dated 
ahead  two  weeks,  the  first  of  the  month,  at  which 
time  his  salary  would  come  in  to  make  the  check 
good,  and  says,  4 See  Andy,  and  fill  out  the  check 
for  as  much  as  you  think  you  can  touch  him  for. 
I have  got  to  have  ten  dollars  in  order  to  get  out 
of  town,  and  they  either  know  me  here  or  they 
don’t  know  me.’  Well,  I had  just  borrowed  five 
dollars  from  Andy  myself,  but  the  check  act 


STAMP  HUKTIKO, 


seemed  like  a new  deal,  and  as  I was  still  shy 
about  ten  dollars  to  get  me  to  Kansas  City,  I 
filled  the  check  out  for  twenty  dollars,  ten  for  me, 
and  ten  for  Wilson,  and  called  on  him  again. 

4 All  you  have  to  do  is  to  hold  the  check  till  the 
first  of  the  month,’  I told  him.  He  simply  said, 
‘You  fellows  make  me  tired,’  but  he  opened  up 
his  roll  and  handed  out  the  twenty. 

“But  going  back  to  stamps  and  hunting  them 
through  the  South:  That  country  has  been 

worked  hard,  more  especially  for  the  Confeder- 
ates, and  they  are  suspicious  of  any  northerner 
prowling  around  for  stamps.  I was  in  a little 
town  in  Louisiana  and  discovered  a large  number 
of  more  or  less  desirable  stamps  in  a drug  store, 
not  high  priced,  but  many  not  usually  found  in 
Illinois  and  the  North,  for  which  I paid  the  drug- 
gist four  dollars.  While  sponging  and  getting  them 
off  the  various  bottles  and  containers,  a fellow 
came  in  and  stood  eyeing  me  a while  with  won- 
der and  curiosity.  Finally  he  said:  4 If  it  is  a 

fair  question,  Cap.,  what  are  you  doing  with 
those  old  stamps  ? ’ 

‘ ‘ I am  a government  officer,  my  friend,  from 
Washington,  gathering  in  all  the  old  revenue 


140 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


stamps  found  in  the  drug  stores,  and  any  drug- 
gist hereafter  selling  any  patent  medicine  or  any- 
thing with  a stamp  on  will  be  liable  to  a hundred 
dollar  fine  and  six  months’  imprisonment. 

“‘Shure,  you  don’t  tell  me  so,’  and  he  went 
out,  taking  it  all  in,  for  he  told  the  postmaster 
about  it,  and  he  himself  asked  me  if  1 was  really 
gathering  in  old  revenue  stamps  for  the  govern- 
ment. ^ 

“In  another  place  I could  see  real  good  stamps 
on  some  Holliway’s  pills,  the  unperforated  cata- 
loguing five  dollars  each,  but  the  apothecary  was 
so  thick-headed  or  suspicious  he  wouldn’t  even 
make  a price  on  them.  ‘ I don’t  know,  sah,  about 
this  stamp  business,’  he  said,  in  the  low  drawl 
peculiar  to  the  South.  ‘ I have  no  right  to  take 
the  stamp  off,  and  I reckon  you  really  don’t  want 
to  pay  any  money  for  them.  You’re  down  here 
to  see  if  my  stock  is  stamped.  ’ He  thought,  too, 
I was  a detective  or  an  officer  in  the  employ  of 
the  government.  But  I got  the  stamps  just  the 
same.  There  were  four  boxes  of  the  pills,  each 
with  four  stamps,  total  catalogue  value  eighty 
dollars.  The  next  day  I disguised  myself  as 
much  as  possible  and,  with  a southern  air  and 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


141 


dress,  went  into  the  store  and  put  down  a dollar 
and  asked  for  a box  of  Holliway’s  pills,  saying 
that  they  were  the  best  pills  for  earache  my  wife 
ever  used.  The  druggist  trotted  out  the  pills 
with  great  alacrity.  I then  offered  him  two  dol- 
lars for  the  other  three  boxes,  £So  my  wife 
wouldn’t  run  out,’  and  he  readily  accepted  it. 

uAt  Memphis  I was  gloriously  left  in  a find 
that  might  have  netted  me  sixty  dollars.  Dr. 
Shallenberger’s  fever  pills  call  for  a six  cent 
stamp,  and  I make  it  a point  to  ask  for  this  arti- 
cle in  almost  every  drug  store  I call  on,  with  the 
hope  of  finding  it  stamped.  They  usually  bear  a 
six  cent  black  and  green  proprietary,  but  I found 
ten  boxes  in  this  drug  store  in  Memphis,  each 
with  a four  cent  playing  card  stamp  attached.  I 
offered  the  clerk  five  dollars  for  the  lot,  which  he 
was  about  to  accept  when  the  proprietor  got  up 
from  his  desk,  picked  up  one  of  the  boxes,  and 
jumped  in  the  air  as  if  he  had  a fit.  £ I guess 
you  will  give  five  dollars  for  stamps  like  these, 
worth  over  one  hundred  dollars!  By  the  gods, 
I didn’t  know  these  stamps  were  there,  and 
here  I have  been  collecting  stamps  and  buy- 
ing them  just  like  these  for  over  fifteen  years,  I 


142 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


didn’t  know  we  had  any  of  these  goods  with 
stamps  on.’ 

‘ ‘ Anyway,  Doc. , I made  a trade  with  the  old 
fellow  by  which  I didn’t  loose  anything,  and  he 
gave  me  one  of  the  four  cent  stamps  for  inform- 
ing him  of  his  hidden  wealth. 

‘ ‘ I spent  several  weeks  of  my  time  in  the  South 
at  Pass  Christian,  Miss.,  a delightful  winter  re- 
sort. ” 

“Yes,  I know  all  about  it.  I was  there  two 
weeks  myself  a few  years  ago.  It  is  great  sport 
fishing  and  crabbing  down  there.  What  did  you 
find  in  old  stamps  at  the  Pass  ? Some  good  Con- 
federate stuff  should  be  hidden  among  some  of 
those  old  families.  If  I had  been  interested  in 
stamps  at  that  time  I might  have  done  some 
profitable  hunting  myself.” 

“I  didn’t  get  a thing  there,  Doc.  I was  on 
the  trail  of  a lot  of  good  stuff  from  one  of  the  old- 
time  typical  southern  ladies,  an  old  dame  who, 
with  her  sister,  has  kept  a boarding  place  there 
ever  since  Jeff  Davis  honored  the  town  with  his 
presence.  In  fact,  they  have  had  the  same  fam- 
ilies with  them  winter  after  winter  till  they  now 
comprise  three  generations.  But  I put  my  foot 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


143 


in  it.  If  you  ever  go  down  there  again.  Doctor, 
for  heaven’s  sake  don’t  bring  up  the  civil  war  and 
side  with  the  North.  I was  indiscreet  enough  to 
speak  of  the  great  work  of  Ben  Butler  in  the 
South  to  the  ladies,  and  I almost  forfeited  my 
head  instead  of  getting  any  old  stamps.  They 
were  really  almost  furious,  and  my  usually  taking 
ways  and  diplomacy  failed  to  make  any  impres- 
sion, and  I went  away  a sadder  and  wiser  man. 
I understood  afterwards  that  Ben  looted  their 
wine  cellar,  and  because  they  kicked,  compelled 
them  to  pass  under  and  salute  the  United  States 
flag.  ” 

4 6 I should  think  you  would  know  better  than 
to  bring  up  the  war  in  that  way,  and  I don’t 
blame  them  very  much  for  feeling  as  they 
do.  I guess  Butler  helped  himself  to  what 
he  wanted  and  did  many  other  things  that 
New  Orleans  and  that  country  can  never  forget.” 

‘ ‘ But  I got  an  idea  there,  Doc. , how  to  act  in 
order  to  get  Confederate  stamps — that  turned  to 
my  advantage  before  I came  North.  I met, 
while  in  the  postoflice  there,  a fellow  who  had 
been  a stamp  crank  and  used  to  gather  in  a lot  of 
them,  and  sometimes  some  very  good  ones  in  the 


144  STAMP  HUNTING. 

following  manner:  He  would  have  several  thou- 

sand cheap  circulars  printed  saying  he  would  be 
at  a certain  hotel  in  the  place  with  money  in  hand 
to  purchase  old  stamps,  particularly  Confederate 
issues.  In  about  two  weeks  he  would  return  to 
the  town  at  the  time  appointed,  and  generally 
would  find,  from  the  previous  distribution  of  the 
circulars,  quite  a large  gathering  of  the  natives 
with  all  kinds  of  stamps. 

‘ ‘ I made  two  whirls  at  it  that  way  myself. 
One  town  in  Louisiana  and  one  town  in  Missis- 
sippi, and  if  I had  had  time  might  have  worked 
it  for  an  indefinite  period  with  great  success.  I 
had  a circular  printed  like  this: 

CASH. 

Prof.  R.  P.  Lewis,  representing  a foreign  syn- 
dicate of  unlimited  capital,  will  be  at  the 
Commercial  Hotel  for  one  day  only, 

March  14,  1897, 

with  plenty  of  money  to  buy  old  postage  and  rev- 
enue stamps  on  old  letters  dated  before  1875,  and 
especially  Confederate  issues.  These  stamps  are 
desired  as  mementos  of  the  great  civil  war  to  fill 
the  various  museums  of  the  old  world.  Look 
over  your  old  correspondence  and  bring  the  en- 
velopes, bearing  the  stamp,  of  no  intrinsic  value, 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


145 


but  Prof.  Lewis  will  pay  you  cash  for  them. 
Don’t  forget  the  date.  One  day  only. 

u There  is  no  place  in  the  United  States,  Doc., 
where  ‘ cash  ’ and  ‘ plenty  of  money  ’ sounds  any 
better  than  in  the  old-time  parishes  of  Louisiana 
and  Mississippi  and,  as  I expected,  my  circular 
brought  in  a great  crowd.  I was  careful  to  see 
that  almost  everyone  within  ten  miles,  especially 
the  old  war  veterans,  received  one  of  them.  On 
my  arrival  at  the  hotel  I engaged  a parlor,  and  a 
room  leading  out  of  it,  and  hired  a young,  bright 
fellow  to  assist  me — like  these  fake  doctors  who 
go  around  the  country  advertising  to  be  in  town 
at  such  a hotel  and  guaranteeing  to  cure  anyone 
of  everything  and  anything;  though  instead  of 
posing  as  a doctor  I was  a professor,  and  as 
Billy,  my  assistant,  had  worked  before  in  the 
same  way,  he  was  onto  his  job. 

“ Before  breakfast  the  parlor  was  nearly  full, 
and  I could  hear  Billy  saying:  4 Take  a seat, 

lady — the  professor  will  see  you  in  a few  min- 
utes;’ and  ‘ you  will  have  to  take  your  turn,  Cap., 
the  professor  is  busy  now,’  etc.  Well,  I finally 
got  everything  arranged,  a hundred  dollars  or  so 
in  loose  silver  and  an  old  catalogue  of  almost 


146 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


twelve  years  back,  giving  prices  about  one- 
quarter  of  present  quotations,  in  case  anyone 
would  spring  some  knowledge  of  stamps  and 
prices  onto  me.  I opened  the  parlor  door  with: 

‘ Who  is  the  first  one  ? ’ and  Billy  said,  ‘ You  first, 
lady,’  and  a buxom,  fairly  well  dressed  person 
got  up  with  a small  parcel  in  her  hand  and  entered 
my  ‘ private  office.  ’ 

“ ‘ I received  your  letter,  ’ she  said,  ‘ and  I have 
brought  in  all  the  old  stamps  I could  find,’  and 
she  spread  out  before  me  a hundred  or  more  let- 
ters, each  bearing  stamps,  but  out  of  the  whole 
lot  there  wasn’t  any  cataloguing  over  ten  or  fif- 
teen cents  each,  and  most  of  them  were  of  no 
value  at  all.  I asked  her  how  much  she  expected 
to  get — that  it  was  the  higher  value  stamps  I 
wanted  especially.  ‘I  don’t  know,’  she  said, 
‘ what  are  they  worth  to  you  ? ’ 

‘ 1 One  dollar  is  all  I can  give  you  lady,  ’ and  I 
really  then,  Doctor,  offered  her  more  than  they 
were  worth.  She  accepted  it  with  many  thanks, 
and  telling  her  not  to  tell  any  of  the  rest  how 
much  she  got,  she  went  out. 

‘ ‘ The  next  one  was  a person  who  knew  it  all. 
She  was  positive  she  had  some  stamps  that  were 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


147 


worth  a great  deal  of  money,  and  undid  a bundle 
of  the  most  common  ones  of  the  Confederate 
issue,  the  ten  cent  greenish  blue  and  the  five  cent 
pale  blue.  ‘ How  much  do  you  want  for  them  ? 5 
I asked  her. ’ 

‘ ‘ ‘ Twenty-five  dollars.  ’ 

“ ‘ I will  sell  you  twice  that  many  for  two  dol- 
lars if  you  like,  ’ I replied,  but  ‘ she  didn’t  care — 
she  wasn’t  going  to  sell  her  stamps  for  nothing, 
that  I might  have  them  them  for  five  dollars,  but 
she  would  rather  keep  them  than  to  sell  for  less.’ 
While  she  was  buzzing  away  I looked  carefully 
over  the  lot  again  and  discovered  two  copies  of 
the  milky  blue  shade,  with  outer  line,  cataloguing 
ten  dollars  each.  ‘All  right,’  I says,  ‘but  it  is  a 
good  price.’ 

“The  next  ‘victim’  Billy  sent  in  was  a hard- 
looking  character,  with  a half  dozen  stamps,  cat- 
aloguing $38.40,  including  three  five  cent  blue 
Mobile.  He  was  so  full  he  could  hardly  sit 
down  straight,  much  less  stand  up.  ‘What  do 
you  want  for  ’em,’  I says. 

“ ‘I — I reckon — you  know  Cap.,  wh  — what 
zhay  worth  — to  you  ? ’ 

“ I gave  him  two  dollars  and  he  staggered  out 


148 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


full  of  glee,  as  well  as  other  things.  That  after- 
noon he  was  run  in  for  being  too  full. 

“The  next  person  who  came  in  said  he  had 
only  one  stamp,  but  would  like  to  have  me 
make  an  offer  for  it.  ‘ All  right,  let’s  see  it,  ’ and 
he  handed  out  the  rarest  of  the  5 cent  Baton  Rouge, 
worth  $100  on  the  cover.  ‘Two  dollars  and  a half,’  I 
said.  ‘ Well,  you  have  come  down  here  with  a lot 
of  nerve,’  he  replied.  £ Yes,  I guess  you  will  pay 
two  dollars  and  a half  for  a stamp  that  sells  at 
auction  in  New  York  for  eighty-five  dollars.’ 

1 ‘ ‘ All  right,  that’s  one  on  me,  my  friend. 
Have  a cigar.  ’ Afterward  I found  him  to  be  an 
enthusiastic  stamp  collector,  who  knew  of  me  and 
my  advertisements,  but  he  didn’t  hurt  my  pur- 
chases any,  though  he  was  surprised  that  so  many 
had  really  good  stamps  in  his  neighborhood. 

‘ 1 The  next  ‘ patient  ’ was  an  old  colored  woman, 
with  a bundle  as  big  as  a clothes  basket,  full  of 
the  current  one  and  two  cent  stamps,  not  worth 
counting.  She  couldn’t  read  the  circular,  but 
‘ some  white  trash  had  done  gone  and  told  her 
that  some  foreign  gemmen  was  coming  here  to 
buy  old  stamps.  ’ I let  her  out  easy  with  fifty 
cents  and  threw  the  stamps  away  afterward. 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


149 


“The  next  one  was  a fellow  who  had  a Confed- 
erate stamp  I paid  him  ten  dollars  for,  cata- 
loguing seventy-five  dollars,  the  Macon,  Georgia, 
five  cent  buff.  I thought  this  was  a pretty  good 
purchase,  till  in  trying  to  sell  it  I discovered  it 
was  a counterfeit,  but  I got  five  dollars  for  it,  as  I 
sold  it  to  a wealthy  New  Yorker,  who  wanted  it 
because  it  was  counterfeit,  simply  for  comparison. 

“My  next  visitor  was  ‘Mistress  Lacey,’  the 
widow  of  the  Confederate  colonel  of  that  name. 
She  really  had  some  choice  stamps  both  in  old 
postage  and  revenue,  as  well  as  some  good  Confed- 
erates, and  she  was  right  up  to  business,  though 
her  knowledge  of  their  present  value  was  limited. 
Finally  I closed  a deal  with  her,  paying  twenty 
dollars  for  stamps  worth  about  seventy-five. 

“And  so  it  went,  Doc,  all  day.  All  kinds  of 
people  came  in,  some  who  couldn’t  read  or  write; 
some  of  the  best  families  of  the  place,  and  with  all 
kinds  of  stamps,  and  even  coins.  Many  expected 
two  to  five  times  my  price,  and  many  were  satis- 
fied, and  seemed  pleased,  at  anything  I might  give 
them.  Some  had  some  choice  stamps  on  covers, 
but  torn  in  opening,  so  they  were  about  worthless. 
Others  expected  quite  a sum  for  the  commonest 


160 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


kind  of  stamps,  and  felt  hurt  if  I didn’t  accept 
their  price,  while  others  would  have  been  satisfied 
with  half  what  I paid  them. 

‘ ‘Among  the  last  of  my  patients  was  a lady 
dressed  very  poorly  and  with  a thin,  pinched  face, 
as  if  she  had  seen  suffering  and  had  felt  the 
pangs  of  hunger,  and  of  great  sorrow.  She 
tremulously  opened  her  package,  which  proved 
to  be  one  of  J.  W.  Scott’s  old  albums  and  with  a 
very  fair  collection  of  stamps,  some  of  them  quite 
rare,  such  as  the  thirty  and  ninety  cent  1869  is- 
sue, and  full  sets  of  the  departments,  except  the 
rare  state  and  executive.  Tears  filled  her  eyes 
and  she  could  hardly  speak  as  she  asked  me  what 
I could  pay  her  for  the  stamps.  ‘Lady,  do  you 
really  want  to  sell  these  stamps?’  I said.  ‘No, 
sir,  but  I must  do  so  if  I can  get  any  money  for 
them.  I am  very  poor,  but  I hesitated  before 
coming  here  to  sell  Jimmie’s  stamps.  He  was  my 
son  and  it  is  the  only  thing  I have  left  of  his  to 
treasure.  He  so  enjoyed  collecting  them,  and  it 
breaks  my  heart  to  see  them  go,  but  I must  have 
money  for  the  rent,  or  be  turned  out.’ 

“ ‘How  much  did  you  expect  to  get  for  the 
stamps?’  I asked  her.  ‘Oh,  I don’t  know,  sir;  I 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


151 


thought  you  could  give  me  five  dollars  or  so  for 
them.  You  will  know  what  they  are  worth. 5 

“ ‘I’ll  give  you  ten  dollars,  madam,  for  one 
stamp  that  I may  be  able  to  sell  for  more  than 
that.  If  I do,  I’ll  remit  you  the  difference. 
Here  is  my  address  in  Chicago.  Keep  the  col- 
lection, but  if  you  wish  to  sell  it  at  any  time,  let 
me  know.  I’ll  give  you  all  I get  for  it,  which 
should  be  seventy-five  to  a hundred  dollars.’  ” 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


MY  GREAT  FIND  IN  ALABAMA. 

“Well,  here  you  are  again  I see.  What  makes 
you  so  early,  you  are  hardly  due  yet,  are  you  ? ” 
“ I am  a little  ahead  of  my  time,  Doc.,  but  I 
wanted  to  get  ahead  of  Spear.  He  is  working 
over  this  road,  and  I have  got  tired  of  being  be- 
hind everybody  all  the  time.” 

“Have  you  evened  up  on  him  yet  on  that  St. 
Louis  episode  ? ” 

‘ ‘ Not  yet,  but  I am  laying  for  him.  ” 

“I  wish  you  success,  but  if  you  get  ahead  of 
any  deal  with  him,  you  will  be  the  first  one.  By 
the  way,  do  you  know  a fellow  named  Ed.  Mal- 
lory?” 

“Yes,  I should  say  I did;  travels  for  Lazell, 
Dailey  & Company’s  perfumes;  wears  a plug  hat 
and  a fur-lined  overcoat.  Looks  like  an  actor.” 
“Yes,  that  sizes  him  up  all  right.  The  first 
time  you  see  him  and  hear  him  bluster  and  blow 
you  would  think  he  was  nothing  but  a wind-bag 

full  of  prune  juice,  but  that’s  his  way,  and  you 
153 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


153 


become  accustomed  to  it  after  a while,  and  if  you 
don’t  hear  him  cussing  everybody  and  everything, 
you  wonder  what’s  wrong  with  him.” 

“He  is  a salesman  too,  Doc.  No  one  in  the 
perfume  line  gets  the  business  he  does  out  of  this 
territory,  even  if  he  has  an  ‘ I am  God  ’ kind  of  a 
way  about  him.  He  is  another  one,  also,  who  is 
handy  to  have  around  you  if  you  are  busted.  He 
always  has  the  stuff,  and  ever  willing  to  help  any 
of  his  fellow  travelers  in  distress.  But  what  did 
he  say  about  me?  ” 

“Oh,  he  said  that  you  were  the  craziest  duck 
that  he  ever  saw;  that  you  would  rather  stew  and 
fuss  over  a few  old  stamps  than  to  play  billiards, 
go  to  the  ball  game,  or  do  anything.” 

“ Yes,  but  while  those  fellows  are  wearing  out 
their  shoe  leather,  Doc.,  and  dropping  their  stuff 
in  such  pleasures,  I get  my  pleasure  in  my  stamps. 
You  couldn’t  hire  me  to  walk  round  a billiard 
table  hour  after  hour.” 

“And  you  couldn’t  hire  me  to  either;  I would 
rather  fool  with  stamps  too.  Besides  the  pleas- 
ure in  it,  there  is  more  profit.  Speaking  of  Mal- 
lory with  his  plug  hat,  you  probably  do  business 
with  Morrison,  Plummer  & Co.  Did  you  ever 


154 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


see  their  sundry  buyer,  Tom  Ballard,  without  a 
plug  hat  on? 55 

“No;  and  never  without  a cigar  in  his  mouth, 
either.  There  is  probably  the  best  posted  man 
in  his  line  in  the  West.  Quick  as  lightning  in 
his  purchases,  and  knows  what  he  wants  in  short 
order.  He  is  a very  democratic  sort  of 'a  fellow, 
and  very  approachable,  no  matter  what  you  have 
to  sell  or  what  you  have  to  say,  you  can  always 
get  an  audience  with  him.  Another  nice  buyer 
to  do  business  with  is  Mr.  Fred  Greene,  of  Bar- 
ker & Wheeler  Company,  of  Peoria. 55 

“Yes,  I know  him.  He  used  to  be  with  Col- 
burn, Birks  & Co.  I sometimes  buy  goods  of  his 
house.  I like  them  better  than  anybody  I deal 
with,  but  freights  are  against  them  here.” 

“ Yes,  but  Mr.  Greene  is  the  direct  opposite  of 
Tom  Ballard  in  temperament  and  disposition, 
though  equally  as  competent.  He  takes  things 
awful  easy  and  quiet,  at  the  same  time  gets 
through  with  an  enormous  amount  of  work,  and 
is  found  at  his  labors  early  and  late.  In  fact,  he 
is  the  chief  executive  push  of  the  entire  business. 
You  can  always  get  at  him  no  matter  how  busy 
he  is;  and  in  this  respect  is  unlike  many  buyers 


STAMP  HUNTING, 


158 


of  the  large  drug  houses  who  have  signs  up  read^ 
ing  ‘ No  goods  bought  before  1 p.  m.,’  or,  ‘No 
goods  bought  on  Saturday,’  or,  ‘Only  between 
10  and  12  a.  m.  and  2 to  1 p.  m.,’  etc.  To  handle 
Mr.  Greene  right  you  must  let  him  have  his  time, 
amuse  him,  tell  him  a story  ; but  while  you’re  do- 
ing it  he  will  turn  to  his  typewriter  and  dictate  a 
few  letters,  still  listening  to  you,  however ; never 
rattled,  never  hurried,  and  always  with  a pleas- 
ant smile.  Finally  he  goes  out  into  the  stock 
room  and  comes  back  with  a memorandum  and,  not 
expecting  an  order,  before  you  can  even  get  your 
order  book  out,  he  says:  ‘One  gross  kidney  plas- 
ters, three  gross  bella  plasters,  ’ etc. , and  you  go 
away  with  a larger  order  than  you  expected,  and 
with  the  impression  that  he  likes  you  first  rate, 
and  that  you  have  found  it  a pleasure  to  do  busi- 
ness with  him.  It  takes  a good  deal  of  tact  and 
business  judgment  to  get  round  many  of  these 
wholesale  buyers  of  large  houses.  My  friend 
Mr.  Medbury,  who  represents  Bauer  & Black  in 
the  Peoria  district,  has  this  talent  to  a remark- 
able degree.  He  came  into  Mr.  Greene’s  office 
as  a stranger  soon  after  B.  & B.  started  in  busi- 
ness, and  opened  up  with  a history  of  his  past 


168 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


life;  how  many  years  he  had  been  in  the  plaster 
business,  the  trade  he  had  in  Chicago,  his  de- 
lightful family,  the  merits  of  his  dog,  that  he 
was  coming  to  Peoria  every  sixty  days,  and  the 
drug  trade  would  know  him  and  would  like  him, 
and  they  would  save  his  orders  for  him,  etc.  He 
talked  at  such  a rate  that  Mr.  Greene  put  him 
down  as  a bore,  and  when  he  went  away  the  im- 
pression he  left  was  that  he  was  more  of  a wind- 
bag than  that  ‘ red-whiskered  devil  that  repre- 
sents Lee.5  About  sixty  days  afterward  Med- 
bury  drops  in  again,  and  says:  ‘You  know  me 

this  time.  When  I was  here  last  I gave  you  an 
account  of  myself.  Haven’t  anything  to  say  now 
except  I’ll  be  round  Peoria  for  a couple  of  days, 
and  will  bring  you  in  some  business.  If  you 
can  increase  the  orders  any  all  right,  if  not  all 
right.  It  will  be  just  the  same.’  It  proves  he 
was  very  politic,  and  no  matter  what  impression 
he  created  at  first,  he  made  an  impression  which 
turned  to  his  credit  afterward,  and  now  he  turns 
in  more  turnover  orders  to  Barker  & Wheeler 
from  Peoria  than  all  the  rest  of  us  put  together. 

“But  speaking  furthur  of  drug  buyers:  There 
was  a buyer  of  a wholesale  house  in  Iowa  that 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


157 


every  traveling  man  had  it  in  for.  Why  this 
man  should  act  as  he  did,  and  slur  and  turn  the 
boys  down  so,  no  one  seems  to  understand.  I 
called  on  him  once,  and  he  asked  the  price  of  ab- 
sorbent cotton  in  one  thousand  pound  lots.  I 
gave  it  to  him  and  he  said  he  would  have  an 
order  if  I would  come  in  towards  five  o’clock.  I 
don’t  run  away  from  any  prospective  business, 
although  the  train  I wanted  to  catch  left  about 
noon.  When  I got  round  for  my  order,  he  said 
he  found  he  had  everything  he  wanted,  and 
couldn’t  give  me  an  order  this  time.  I told  him 
I was  disappointed,  that  I was  led  to  believe  he 
would  have  some  business  for  me  from  what  he 
had  said,  that  I had  missed  my  train,  etc.,  to 
which  he  made  no  reply.  I found  afterward 
that  after  I had  gone,  and  that  very  day,  he  or- 
ders by  mail  direct  to  the  house,  giving  my  quo- 
tations but  for  less  quantity.  The  next  time  out 
there  I called  at  his  place  of  business  to  wipe  up 
the  floor  with  him,  but  I was  disappointed — he 
had  died  the  week  before.” 

“ It  is  pretty  rough  to  treat  a drummer  that 
way.  If  it  wasn’t  for  you  fellows  getting  round 
we  wouldn’t  be  posted  at  all  in  our  line;  at  the 


158 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


same  time  we  are  bored  to  death  sometimes  by 
some  cheap  outfits  that  come  along  here  and  try 
to  force  themselves  and  their  goods  onto  us. 
But  if  there  is  anything  I want  I would  much 
prefer  to  give  it  to  a traveling  man  than  to  send 
it  in  to  the  house.” 

“ I think,  Doc.,  that  the  majority  of  the  trade 
prefer  to  do  so  too.  We  must  expect  once  in  a 
while,  though,  to  run  across  a man  like  this  one. 
The  world  is  made  up  of  all  kinds  of  people. 
Another  unhappy  day  for  a traveling  man  is  to 
get  up  at  three  or  four  o’clock  in  the  morning  in 
order  to  make  connections  with  a town,  and  when 
you  get  there,  to  find  one  of  the  two  druggists 
away  for  a week,  and  the  other,  whom  you  have 
always  sold  a good  bill  to  before,  say,  ‘ Why  weren’t 
you  round  last  week?  I needed  some  goods  in 
your  line  and  Johnson  & Johnson’s  man  was  here 
and  I gave  him  an  order  amounting  to  about  sev- 
enty-five dollars’  worth.’  But  salemanship  comes 
into  play  then,  and  I generally  manage  not  to  get 
left.” 

“Yes,  I guess  you  would  get  some  business  if 
anybody  could.  Almost  anyone  can  get  an  order 
out  of  me  if  I am  in  real  need  of  the  goods,  but  it 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


159 


takes  a salesman  to  sell  me  when  I don’t  want 
anything,  or  only  half  want  anything.  A fellow 
came  in  here  the  other  day  and  sold  me  some 
chewing  gum  that  I didn’t  want  any  more  than  I 
wanted  so  much  hay,  and  it  wasn’t  worth  a damn 
either.  He  was  a smooth  one,  something  like 
that  cigar  fellow  I was  telling  you  about.  His 
scheme  was  to  introduce  his  gum  by  giving  a 
solid  silver  pitcher  with  it.  You  take  three  dol- 
lars and  a half’s  worth  of  gum,  that  retails  at 
seven  dollars,  and  he  gives  away  the  pitcher,  that 
he  said  cost  him  three  dollars  at  wholesale.  There 
it  is  over  there  on  the  soda  fountain.  Well,  his 
samples  looked  all  right,  but  you  can  see  the 
pitcher  is  one  of  those  fake  aluminum  ones  that 
department  stores  sell  for  sixty-nine  cents,  and 
as  I say,  his  gum  is  rank.  I am  trying  to  get  rid 
of  it  three  packages  for  a nickel,  so  I won’t  lose 
over  a dollar  and  a half  on  the  deal.  I don’t 
often  get  taken  in  this  way,  but  I believe  this 
fellow  was  a hypnotist.  He  sold  his  blamed  old 
gum  and  pitcher  to  every  grocery  store,  restau- 
rant, druggist  and  confectionery  store  in  town. 
He  even  sold  it  to  the  saloon  trade.  Only  yesterday 
one  of  them  was  in  here  with  the  same  gum,  want- 


160 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


ing  to  sell  it  for  three  dollars;  that  he  thought 
was  worth  five;  and  said  he  bought  a ten  dollar 
pitcher  for  three  dollars  and  a half  and  the  fellow 
threw  in  the  gum.  But  you  were  going  to  tell 
me  about  your  great  find  of  stamps  in  Alabama. 
I am  not  busy  now,  so  sit  down  and  tell  me  about 
it.” 

“Well,  Doctor,  this  was  one  of  the  best  finds 
that  ever  came  my  way,  that  is  in  quantity, 
though  the  quality  wasn’t  so  great.” 

‘ ‘ No  six  cent  orange  proprietaries  I suppose, 
or  inverted  medallions?  ” 

“Nary  a one,  but  there  was  some  good  stuff 
just  the  same.  A local  stamp  dealer  put  me  onto 
it  and  we  divided  the  proceeds.  It  came  about  in 
this  way: 

“ Several  years  ago  the  oldest  jobbing  drug 
house  in  the  city  decided  to  go  out  of  th„e  whole- 
saling of  drugs  and  confine  their  business  exclu- 
sively to  the  manufacture  of  pharmaceutical  prep- 
arations. They  therefore  closed  out  all  of  their 
patent  medicines,  pills,  sundries  and  the  like. 
The  goods  in  popular  demand  very  soon  were 
sold,  but  the  old  timers  and  uncalled  for  articles, 
most  of  which  bore  stamps,  went  slow,  and 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


161 


were  on  hand  when  I was  down  there  in  Febru- 
ary. I knew  they  had  some  old  stuff  in  the 
house,  and  I also  knew  that  no  one  could  monkey 
through  the  stock  for  stamps,  but  they  were 
hungry  to  sell  the  medicines  just  the  same.  My 
friend  the  dealer  and  myself  had  a council  of 
war  over  the  prospect,  and  we  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  I should  go  into  the  store  represent- 
ing myself  to  be,  and  in  good  faith,  a buyer  from 
some  Chicago  house  of  old  patent  medicines,  and 
try  and  make  a deal  under  which  I could  have  the 
privilege  of  buying  the  old  stamps  separately 
from  the  medicine;  take  a list  of  the  stock  and 
make  an  offer  for  it  low  enough  so  that  they 
wouldn’t  take  me  up.  Acting  on  that  plan  I en- 
tered the  store  the  following  morning,  and  intro- 
duced myself  as  representing  the  London  Chemi- 
cal & Medicine  Co. , of  New  York,  London  and 
Chicago  and  was  there  to  buy  up  old  patents,  etc. 
for  cash.  That  I could  buy  so  I could  sell  and 
make  a profit.  Incidentally  I told  them  this  firm 
also  bought,  as  a separate  transaction,  the  old 
revenue  stamps  on  such  medicines,  which  were  sent 
to  their  London  office  and  New  York  for  distrh 
bution  to  collectors. 


162 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


“Well,  they  hemmed  and  hawed  around  for 
a while  and  I was  introduced  from  one  to  another, 
till  I reached  the  4 head  push, 5 who  referred  me 
back  to  the  stock  man  for  him  to  do  with  me  as 
he  saw  fit. 

4 c i What  do  you  give  for  old  stamps  ? 5 he  says, 

‘ there  is  a lot  of  them  here. 5 

‘ ‘ ‘ That  depends  on  what  you  have  got.  The 
only  way  I can  tell  is  to  see.  You  give  me  the 
freedom  of  the  store,  and  let  me  go  through  with 
some  one  and  see  what  there  is.  I can  then  tell 
you  just  how  much  I can  give  you  for  the  stamps, 
and  how  much  for  the  medicine.  ’ 

“That  was  satisfactory  to  him,  and  we  lit  a 
lantern  and  started  in  in  the  basement.  Well, 
the  first  crack  out  of  the  box,  Doc.,  was  eighteen 
boxes  of  M.  A.  Simmons’  pills,  each  having  a 
strip  of  four  of  his  Iuka,  Miss.,  stamps  on,  cata- 
loguing two  dollars  each.  There  was  a catalogue 
value  to  start  with  of  one  hundred  and  forty  dol- 
lars. In  fifteen  minutes  I found  scattered 
through  the  four  floors  of  the  store  hundreds  and 
hundreds  of  dollars  worth  of  stamps,  mostly  pro- 
prietary of  the  1871  and  1879  issues  of  the  lower 
denominations,  but  a whole  lot  of  sixes  and  tens 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


163 


mixed  in,  though  the  great  bulk  of  them  were  the 
one  and  two  cent  1878,  and  the  one  cent  propri- 
etary of  the  first  issue,  which  I did  not  trouble 
mvself,  after  the  deal  was  made,  to  take  off. 
After  some  parleying,  I offered  him  thirty  dollars 
in  cash  on  the  spot  for  all  the  old  stamps  I could 
find  and  wanted  in  the  store,  and  in  taking  them 
off  I would  take  a list  of  the  patent  medicines, 
etc.,  and  when  through  would  make  a cash  offer 
for  them.  He  accepted  it  and  drew  up  an  agree- 
ment and  receipt  to  that  effect.  1 was  sharp 
enough  not  to  specify  revenues  stamps  alone,  but 
made  it  4 all  the  old  stamps  I found  or  wanted.’ 
I had  my  eye  on  a lot  of  old  correspondence  on  the 
upper  floors,  and  I wasn’t  going  to  let  any  old 
Confederate  stamps  worth  one  hundred  dollars 
apiece,  escape  if  I could  help  it. 

“ Well,  sir,  I had  a job  of  it  for  three  days.  I 
sweated  and  sopped  and  sweated  over  these  old 
pills  and  stuff,  opening  boxes  and  barrels  and  old 
letters  and  files  and  receipts  and  checks  for  any- 
thing and  everything  that  looked  like  stamps. 
The  boys  in  the  store  wondered  what  in  the 
dickens  could  I do  with  so  many,  but  I turned 
a deaf  ear  to  everybody,  and  sopped  away.  At 


164 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


noon  and  night  I would  take  a big  load  of  them 
over  to  my  partner,  and  he  would  wash  them 
and  sort  them  over.  The  third  day  I reached  the 
roof  and  ripped  open  a box  of  old  letters,  and  the 
first  grab  revealed  a pair  of  five  cent  Nashville  on 
the  cover.  A colored  man  was  round  eyeing  me, 
and  I asked  him  if  he  wanted  to  earn  a dollar. 

< I reckon  I do,  Cap. , 5 he  said.  ‘ Stay  right  with 
me  then  and  help  me  sort  out  these  old  letters.  ’ 
I was  afraid,  Doctor,  I wouldn’t  get  through,  as 
I had  to  leave  the  next  day  for  the  North.  Well, 
by  five  o’clock  we  had  gone  through  everything 
in  sight,  and  the  result  of  the  whole  summed  up 
as  follows: 


CONFEDERATE  AND  FOSTAGE. 

2 pairs  on  covers,  5c  Nashville,  cataloguing $ 80.00 

180  10c  light  blue  Confederate,  general, issues. .. . 18.00 

154  5cpaleblue,  “ “ “ catal’g  15.40 

2 5c  Knoxville,  “ “ “ 40.00 

107  10c  common,  “ 10.70 

7 3c  U.  S.,  wide  die,  1853,  cataloguing 84.00 

87  1853  U.  S.,  die  I 31.75 

MEDICINES  AND  PROPRIETARIES. 

5480  2c  B.  & G.  proprietary,  on  checks 548  00 

864  4c  “ “ 33.56 

280  3c  “ “ 140.00 

70  6c  “ “ 105.00 

84  10c  44  “ 210.00 

26  6c  1878,  violet 39, 0» 


STAMP  HUNTING*. 


165 


490  3c  1st  issue 49.00 

644  4c  1st  issue 96  60 

M A Simmons  stamps 148.50 

90  C.  E.  Hull,  on  pink . . 67.50 

42  Father  Matthew 31.56 

227  Fleming  Brothers,  old 227.00 

18  Seabury  & Johnson 22.50 

160  Holman’s  liver  pad 40.00 


and  a whole  raft  of  Scovilles,  Harters,  J.  F. 
Henrys,  Pierces,  Flanders,  etc.,  and  other  pro- 
prietaries and  odds  and  ends  making  a grand  total 
of  $2,380.00.  In  fact,  I left  behind  thousands  of 
stamps  cataloguing  from  one  to  five  cents  each, 
that  I didn’t  think  it  worth  my  time  to  bother 
with.  Now  dividing  this  sum  by  two  and  deduct- 
ing the  cost  to  me  of  fifteen  dollars,  plus  the 
one  dollar  paid  the  coon  for  helping  me,  left  a 
net  cash  profit  for  the  three  days’  work,  figuring 
the  value  of  the  stamps  at  half  catalogue,  at  close 
to  six  hundred  dollars.  My  time  of  course,  being 
of  no  value,  as  the  firm  I travel  for  pays  for 
that.  ” 

4 ‘ I guess  I’ll  sell  out  my  drug  business  and 
travel  on  the  road.  You  don’t  know  of  anyone 
fool  enough  to  buy  out  a drug  store  at  this  time 
do  you?  If  you  do,  let  me  know.  I’ll  travel  for 
any  house  who  will  pay  my  expenses,  and  you 


166 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


will  not  bo  the  only  one  hunting  for  stamps.  I 
bet  I’ll  land  a lot  of  six  cent  orange  proprietaries 
in  my  finds,  and  give  you  a hard  run  for  your 
money.  Two  hundred  dollars  a day  sopping  off 
stamps;  but  what  did  you  make  out  of  the  patent 
medicines?  Six  hundred  dollars  too?” 

“No,  Doc., my  offer  of  one  hundred  dollars  for 
the  lot  was  stubbornly  refused,  but  they  had  no 
kick  coming.  They  were  thirty  dollars  ahead 
anyhow,  besides  having  the  honor  of  doing  busi- 
ness with  the  ‘London  Chemical  & Medicine 
Company  of  London,  New  York  and  Chicago.’  ” 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


THE  INDIANA  DRUG  STORE. 

“I  haven’t  seen  you  for  a longtime.  You 
must  have  been  digging  for  stamps  and  letting 
the  plaster  business  slide.  Where  have  you  been 
since  you  were  here  last?  ” 

“Down  among  the  hoboes  of  Indiana,  Doc., 
along  the  banks  of  the  Wabash,  far  away,  and  I 
have  made  some  rich  strikes  since  I saw  you  last. 
The  first  town  I struck  after  leaving  Chicago  was 
Elkhart.  A number  of  local  stamp  fiends  had 
ransacked  the  principal  stores  several  times,  but 
they  failed  to  find  in  the  oldest  store  in  town 
eight  boxes  of  female  pills,  each  having  a four 
cent  playing  card  stamp  cataloguing  ten  dollars. 
There  were  a dozen  boxes  of  the  pills  all  told,  but 
four  of  them  had  the  regulation  four  cent  proprie- 
tary, worth  about  three  cents.  The  custom  house 
had  probably  run  out  of  the  regular  stamps,  and 
filled  in  with  the  playing  card  variety,  which  was 
only  issued  in  small  quantities,  and  is  consequently 
quite  rare.  I also  found  in  the  same  store  forty- 
eight  four  cent  proprietary  half  perforated,  cata- 

167 


168 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


loguing  at  three  dollars  each,  but  listed  too  high, 
it  not  being  worth  over  fifty  cents.  Also  seven 
Harter’s,  on  pink,  cataloguing  one  dollar  each, 
and  a lot  of  cheaper  stuff,  the  whole  layout  worth 
on  the  market  seventy-five  dollars  at  least.  The 
druggist  seemed  highly  pleased  at  my  magnani- 
mous offer  of  two  dollars  for  the  bunch.  He 
said  it  was  like  finding  money  for  him,  and  it  was 
more  than  he  had  made  that  morning.  I next 
struck  the  town  of  South  Bend.  This  is  a good 
business  place,  and  I made  in  one  of  the  corner 
stores  a peculiar  and  unexpected  find.  The 
druggist  had  some  idea  of  the  value  of  medicine 
stamps,  and  I saw  at  once  that  I couldn’t  get 
thirty-five  dollars  for  one  dollar  here,  but  he  gave 
me  permission  to  look  over  his  stock  and  make 
him  an  offer  for  what  I found.  Well,  I went 
back  that  night  and  dug  pretty  carefully,  but  out- 
side of  a few  six  cent  green  proprietaries,  and  a 
half  a dozen  four  cent  United  States  Proprietary 
Co.  there  was  hardly  a 113' thing  worth  taking  off. 
He  refused  my  dollar  offer,  but  wanted  to  know 
what  I would  give  for  a lot  of  unused  proprietary 
stamps.  He  trotted  them  out  and  spread  before 
my  astonished  eyes  eighty  two  cent  brown  rou- 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


169 


letted,  perfect  and  original  gum,  like  those  I 
missed,  as  I told  you,  in  Olhey,  cataloguing  five 
dollars  each,  and  a good  stamp.  I thought  from 
what  he  had  previously  said  that  he  must  have 
known  the  value  of  them,  but  I wasn’t  going  to  an- 
ticipate it.  I simply  replied  that  I would  give  him 
two  cents  a piece  for  them,  or  three  dollars  for  the 
whole  lot,  including  the  medicine  stamps.  ‘ All 
right,5  he  said  ‘ take  them  away.5  I was  knocked 
nearly  off  my  feet,  Doc. ; I thought  of  course, 
he  would  say  that  the  stamps  were  worth  fifty 
times  that  amount,  but  he  made  the  mistake  many 
have  done,  of  not  knowing  the  difference  between 
the  perforated  one,  which  isn’t  worth  a dollar  a 
hundred,  and  the  rouletted,  which  is  one  of  the 
best  of  all  of  the  regular  proprietaries,  and  in 
this  condition  worth  fully  three  dollars  and  a half. 
The  next  town  I struck  was' Fort  Wayne,  and  two 
ten  cent  black  and  green,  cataloguing  two  dollars 
and  a half  each,  for  which  I had  to  pay  twenty- 
five  cents,  was  all  this  place  landed  for  me.  The 
town  was  too  large.  In  the  cities  of  this  size  the 
druggists  generally  get  rid  of  their  old  stock,  and 
keep  it  more  up  to  date  than  the  small  country 
places,  where  some  of  them  never  throw  away 


170 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


anything,  no  matter  how  old  it  is,  even  if  the 
pills,  etc. , are  all  dried  up  and  of  no  earthly  good 
as  a medicine.  Besides,  in  a large  city  stamp 
fiends  are  more  in  evidence,  and  the  drug  stores 
at  this  time  have  been  overhauled  for  stamps  time 
and  time  again. 

“From  Fort  Wayne  I went  south  on  the 
Wabash.  In  Huntington  there  is  an  old  drug 
store  with  stock  so  old  some  of  it  was  there  be- 
fore the  stamp  tax  was  enacted.  While  waiting 
to  get  the  attention  of  the  proprietor  a lady  came 
in  and  asked  for  a bottle  of  Osgood’s  India  Cholo- 
gog.  The  druggist  after  some  search  found  a 
bottle,  and  while  he  was  wrapping  it  up  I noticed 
a six  cent  orange  stamp  on  it,  and  asked  the  lady 
if  she  didn’t  want  the  revenue  stamp  I would  like  it 
for  my  ‘little  boy  (?)’  who  was  making  a collection. 
She  gave  it  to  me  at  once,  and  would  take  no  pay 
for  it;  but  it  wasn’t  the  proprietary,  the  long- 
looked-f  or  stamp,  Doc. , but  the  ‘ inland  exchange’ 
variety,  of  no  particular  value.  Still  it  gave  me 
encouragement  to  think  that  there  might  be  good 
stuff  in  the  store,  and  I was  not  mistaken.  For 
a hypodermic  syringe,  costing  me  fifty  cents,  the 
apothecary  was  glad  to  let  me  have  what  stamps 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


171 


I wanted,  which  amounted  to  a catalogue  value  of 
nearly  one  hundred  dollars,  and  included  two  Tal- 
cott's  on  pink,  a rare  stamp,  worth  more  than 
catalogue  price.  It  was  here  I met  with  an  ex- 
perience that  is  the  lot  of  most  stamp  hunters. 
At  the  postoffice  I learned  of  an  old  farmer  who 
had  a lot  of  war  envelopes  with  stamps  that  he 
would  sell  cheap.  I hunted  him  up,  and  from  a 
whole  lot  of  cheap  stuff  found  three  wide  die,  U. 
S.  envelopes  of  1855,  cataloguing  twelve  dollars 
each.  He  only  asked  three  dollars  for  the 
lot.  Soon  after  a fellow  calling  himself  a 
brother  of  the  other  one  came  in  with  twice  as 
many  stamps,  but  of  the  commonest  kind,  and 
wanted  five  dollars  for  his.  It  seemed  almost  im- 
possible for  me  to  make  him  understand  that  his 
stamps  were  of  no  value.  He  couldn’t  see  how 
I could  pay  three  dollars  for  not  half  so  many, 
but  I finally  gave  him  a dollar  for  half  what  he 
had,  to  keep  peace  in  the  family,  and  threw  them 
away  after  he  had  gone. 

“ From  here  I swung  over  to  Wabash.  There 
I was  completely  left.  The  druggist  was  an  old 
skin-flint  and  up  to  stamp  fiends,  and  when  I ap- 
proached the  subject  he  asked  me  what  I gave  for 


m 


STAMP  HUtfTING. 


’em.  From  the  outward  appearance  of  things  I 
thought  I could  safely  risk  two  dollars  for  the 
privilege  of  going  through  and  taking  off  what  I 
wanted,  which  he  accepted.  After  sweating  and 
digging  an  hour  or  so,  I found  everything  with 
the  stamp  gone  of  any  worth,  and  only  cheap, 
worthless  truck  remained.  I correctly  surmised 
that  there  had  been  other  fiends  there  before  me, 
for  the  druggist  said  as  I was  leaving  that  there 
was  a chap  along  there  last  week  who  gave  him  a 
dollar  for  what  he  wanted,  and  the  next  son  of  a 
gun  that  came  into  his  store  for  stamps  he  would 
soak  for  three  dollars.  ” 

“That’s  pretty  good.  It  reminds  me  of  a fel- 
low in  here  since  you  were  around.  He  wanted 
to  look  for  stamps,  but  I told  him  between  you 
and  myself,  if  he  found  anything  worth  anything 
he  could  have  it.  But  I made  some  nice  trades 
with  him.  He  does  not  collect  match  and  medi- 
cine, only  postage,  and  I gave  him  a fifteen  cent 
1869,  for  medicine  stamps  cataloguing  fifteen 
dollars,  that  I didn’t  have  in  my  collection.  I am 
getting  along  finely  with  it.  As  you  suggested, 
I sent  a lot  of  duplicates  to  the  exchange  depart- 
ment  of  the  American  Philatelic  Association,  and 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


173 


am  exchanging  a good  deal  with  collectors  all  over 
the  country.  If  you  haven’t  disposed  of  that 
Talcott  pink,  I would  like  a copy.” 

“I  sold  one  of  them,  Doc.,  to  a New  York  col- 
lector, but  the  other  I’ll  trade  or  sell  to  you. 
But  the  find  of  all  in  Indiana  was  in  Terre  Haute, 
and  was  another  great  surprise.  Soon  after  the 
stamp  tax  went  into  effect,  a Mr.  Barr  doing 
business  in  Terre  Haute  under  the  name  of  T.  H. 
Barr  & Co.,  took  advantage  of  the  clause  allowing 
private  dies  and  had  his  ‘phiz’  etc.,  engraved  on 
a stamp  approved  by  the  government.  They  used 
it  on  their  fever  and  ague  cure,  a dollar  remedy, 
and  a medicine  in  those  days  having  a very  large 
sale,  but  confined  almost  exclusively  to  territory 
comprising  Indiana  and  the  adjoining  states. 
Previous  to  this  trip  I have  found  a few  of  these 
stamps  which  are  catalogued  by  Scott  at  a dollar, 
and  being  only  on  one  kind  of  paper,  is  a desir- 
able one  and  worth  fully  fifty  cents  each;  while 
in  Terre  Haute  I thought  of  this  stamp,  and  on 
ferreting  out  the  old  firm  found  that  Mr.  Barr 
had  died  many  years  ago,  and  the  firm  had  gone 
out  of  business.  But  Mr.  Barr’s  brother-in-law, 
in  the  retail  drug  business  there,  told  me  that  the 


174 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


stock  of  medicine  which  he  believed  was  stamped 
went  into  the  hands  of  E.  H.  Bindly  & Co., 
wholesale  druggists  of  that  city.  I did  not  dwell 
long  hunting  up  Mr.  Bindly,  and  asked  him  if  he 
had  this  stuff. 

“ ‘Yes,’  he  said,  ‘we  have  a lot  of  it;  what  will 
you  give  for  it?’ 

“ ‘Oh,’  I replied,  ‘I  don’t  want  the  medicine, 
but  the  old  revenue  stamp  used  on  the  article 
interests  me.  ’ 

“ ‘We  could  not  bother  taking  them  off  for 
you,’ said  the  druggist;  ‘the  medicine  has  been 
here  for  a good  many  years,  and  I would  sell 
that  to  you  cheap.  ’ 

“ ‘But  I don’t  want  something  for  nothing,’  I 
insisted.  ‘Find  out  how  many  stamps  you  have 
and  I’ll  make  an  offer.  If  satisfactory,  well  and 
good.  If  not,  all  right.’ 

“Well,  the  druggist  sent  a boy  upstairs  to  see 
how  many  they  had  and  reported  there  were  129 
packages.  I then  offered  a few  cents  each  for  the 
lot,  more  than  I need  have  offered  if  I had  known 
that  the  129  packages  were  129  dozen  or  over 
1500  of  the  stamps.  But  such  was  the  case,  and 
in  spotless  condition,  they  all  being  underneath 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


175 


the  outside  wrapper,  and  as  clean  and  perfect  as 
when  the  Barr  Co.  placed  them  on  there,  over 
twenty  years  ago.  Think  of  it,  1500  stamps 
cataloguing  so  many  dollars,  and  worth  at  least 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  I have  never 
made  six  hundred  dollars  any  neater  and  cleaner 
than  that,  and  I have  found  out  since  that  I could 
have  bought  the  whole  business,  medicine  and  all, 
for  less  money  than  I paid  for  the  stamps.  But 
wasn’t  I lucky,  Doc?” 

‘ ‘I  should  say  you  were  lucky.  I think  I’ll  sell 
our  my  drug  store  the  first  offer  I get,  and  go 
hunting  medicine  stamps  through  the  country.  I 
don’t  make  that  clear  money  out  of  this  place  in 
six  months.  Don’t  you  want  to  trade  jobs?  ” 

“Not  yet.  I wouldn’t  walk  round  in  the  nar- 
row confines  of  a store,  even  if  there  was  more 
money  in  it.  Life  is  too  short.  Well,  from 
Terre  Haute  I swung  over  into  Illinois  to  Paris. 
Here  a druggist  had  evidently  discovered  the  value 
of  some  medicine  stamps,  for  my  offer  of  two 
dollars  for  a lot  he  had  was  received  with  laugh- 
ter and  derision.  He  opened  up  a Scott’s  cata- 
logue, and  I departed  without  saying  a word. 
When  anyone  springs  anything  like  that  on  me, 


176 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


Doc.,  I generally  have  to  throw  up  my  hands. 
It  is  a sad  thought  that  there  are  some  druggists 
who  will  take  advantage  of  a stamp  hunter  in 
that  way,  but  such  is  the  case. 

‘ ‘ The  next  druggist  felt  almost  insulted  at  my 
tendering  him  a dollar  for  stamps  found  in  his 
stock,  worth  about  ten  dollars.  ‘ They  are  not 
worth  anything,  and  I don’t  want  to  take  any 
money  for  them,’  said  he.  I didn’t  argue  the 
matter.  The  next  place  where  I found  anything 
of  value  was  in  Bloomington,  111.,  and  I missed  it 
by  not  being  more  careful.  The  wholesale  drug- 
gist of  the  town  had  read  somewhere  about  old 
patent  medicines  stamps  being  of  value,  and  when 
I asked  about  old  stamps,  he  was  ready  for  me 
with  a whole  box  full.  But  he  knew  too  much — 
I couldn’t  trade.  Among  other  stamps  I noticed 
a stack  of  nearly  three  hundred  three  cent  orange 
proprietaries,  but  he  wanted  three  cents  apiece  for 
them.  If  I had  taken  him  up,  I would  have  made 
several  hundred  dollars,  for  only  a dozen  or  more 
copies  on  top  were  the  common  perforated  stamps; 
the  balance  were  rouletted,  catalogued  throe  dol- 
lars each,  but  I didn’t  know  that  and  only  discov- 
ered it  the  other  day.  I cannot  understand  how  I 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


177 


could  make  such  a mistake  in  not  looking  all  through 
the  pile,  but  from  what  he  said  about  catalogues, 
etc.,  I took  it  for  granted  he  knew  what  he  had. 
He  didn’t,  however,  till  some  local  collector  put 
him  onto  it.  It  was  then  our  friend  Gurley  heard 
that  he  had  these  stamps,  but  he  was  too  late,  too. 
His  price  had  gone  up  from  three  cents  to  three 
dollars  each. 

u Speaking  of  this,  Doctor,  reminds  me  of  a 
stamp  collection  in  Bloomington  that  should  be 
classified  among  the  noted  ones  of  the  world.  At 
least  it  probably  cannot  be  matched.  It  consists 
of  an  old  German  album  over  thirty  years  old, 
with  511  different  varieties  of  rare  and  common 
stamps,  and  every  one  of  them  counterfeit.  Some 
of  them  were  catalogued  four  cents  and  some  as 
high  as  seventeen  hundred  dollars,  whose  origin- 
als are  the  rarest  of  the  rare.  Many  were  used 
or  apparently  used  with  forged  postmarks  and 
cancellations.  You  hear  of  counterfeit  specimens 
of  rare  stamps  cropping  out  every  once  in  a while 
but  for  a whole  album  full,  without  a genuine  one 
among  them,  it  is  a philatelic  curiosity  to  say  the 
least.  The  collection  belongs  to  Mrs.  W.  D. 
Lee,  who,  under  her  maiden  name,  Belle  Plumb, 


178 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


has  quite  a business  house  in  Bloomington,  deal- 
ing in  artists’  and  painters5  supplies.  She  also 
owns  a very  fine  general  collections  of  stamps, 
and  this  old  German  album  drifted  in  one  day  and 
was  purchased  for  a trifle.55 


CHAPTER  XY. 


THE  COUNTRY  POSTOFFICE. 

“ A measly  looking  kind  of  a ‘ Skate  ’ came  by 
here  last  week  and  filled  my  doctors  full  of  cheap 
stuff,  so  I am  afraid  my  order  will  be  a little 
light  this  trip,  but  I’ll  probably  scare  up  some- 
thing. How  is  the  stamp  business?  Haven’t 
found  anymore  1,500  stamps  worth  a dollar  a 
piece  have  you? ” 

‘ ‘ No,  Doc. , my  finds  since  I was  here  last  have 
not  been  so  many  or  so  valuable.  Luck  seems 
to  have  been  with  the  other  fellow.  I will  tell 
you  how  I missed  it  after  I have  seen  your  com- 
petitors. In  the  meantime  look  over  your  stock 
and  see  if  you  can’t  scare  up  a fair  order.  Busi- 
ness has  been  a little  shy  also,  lately.” 

“All  right,  come  in  again  after  dinner,  and 
I’ll  look  it  up.” 

**.*#* 

“I  have  been  calling  the  Mekeels  down  here 
in  St.  Louis,  Doctor,  first-class,  monumental  liars. 
They  advertised  some  time  ago  unused  specimens 
of  the  ninety  cent  1869  issue  of  postage  stamps 

179 


180 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


at  thirty  dollars  each,  stating  they  were  found  in 
a small  Illinois  county  postoffice.  Now,  as  a 
matter  or  fact,  I have  visited  about  every  post- 
office  in  Illinois,  and  to  suppose  I would  have 
missed  anything  so  good  as  a stamp  like  that  is 
absurd;  but  I evidently  slipped  up  on  Carbondale 
down  here  in  Jackson  County.  The  facts  are, 
thirty  of  these  rare  stamps,  worth  over  one  thou- 
sand dollars,  were  shifted  from  one  postmaster 
to  another  for  over  twenty-five  years,  and  un- 
tabbed and  forgotten  were  there  a few  months 
ago.  But  the  bright-eyed  little  post  clerk  gave 
me  the  marble  heart  and  said  there  wasn’t  a thing 
in  the  office  dating  back  before  the  Columbian 
stamps.  At  the  same  time,  I had  hardly  left  the 
town  when  a little  boy,  not  over  twelve  years  old, 
made  the  discovery  that  these  thirty  ninety  cent 
stamps  were  there.  He  had  some  idea  of  their 
value,  and  was  on  pins  and  needles  how  he  should 
get  the  twenty-seven  dollars  necessary  to  buy  the 
stamps.  His  older  brother  finally  let  him  have 
the  money,  on  his  promise  to  return  it  in  ten 
days  with  five  dollars  interest.  The  stamps  were 
in  his  possession  in  a few  minutes,  and  he  at  once 
boarded  the  train  for  St.  Louis  and  made  for  the 


STAMP  HUMTIKG. 


181 


Standard  Stamp  Company  in  Nicholson  Place, 
He  expected  to  get  about  a hundred  dollars  for 
the  lot,  but  the  stamp  man  seemed  so  eager  to 
pay  him  two  hundred  dollars  for  them  that  the 
boy  was  sharp  enough  to  first  see  what  the  Me- 
keels  would  do,  and  went  out.  On  arriving  at 
the  Mekeel  establishment  he  told  his  story,  and 
said  that  three  hundred  dollars,  and  not  a cent 
less,  would  buy  the  stamps.’5 

“Well,  Doc.,  he  reached  home  that  night  with 
the  three  hundred  dollars  in  his  fist,  and  now 
every  postoffice  within  a radius  of  one  hundred 
miles  of  Jackson  County  has  had  some  one  from 
Carbondale  asking  for  ninety  cent  stamps  with  a 
picture  of  Lincoln  on  it.  One  might  search 
every  postoffice  in  the  United  States  and  not  find 
another  stamp  like  that.  How  so  many  ninety 
cent  stamps,  so  rarely  used  even  in  the  largest 
cities,  got  into  an  office  of  a small  town  and  lay 
there  undisturbed  for  a quarter  of  a century,  is 
one  of  the  mysteries  no  one  can  explain. 

“Yes,  I have  been  a little  on  the  ‘ hog  train’ 
in  my  hunt  for  stamps  lately.  I had  another  un- 
happy experience  and  disappointment  in  Flora, 
111.  The  day  clerk  in  the  leading  store  while 


133 


STAMP  HUKTING, 


talking  stamps,  said  his  father  was  running  a 
drug  store  in  a little  cross  road  town  ten  miles 
from  there,  and  when  he  was  there  last  he  no- 
ticed a long  green  stamp  on  an  old  demijohn  in 
the  back  room.  He  remembered  it  was  a dollar 
value  and  had  Washington’s  head  on  it.  Its  de- 
scription tallied  exactly  with  the  one  dollar  pro- 
prietary, worth  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  I did  not  dwell  long  talking 
about  it.  I dropped  my  grip  on  the  spot,  jumped 
onto  a bicycle  and  struck  off  across  the  country 
as  fast  as  I could  pedal. 

You’re  to  late,’  the  old  man  said,  ‘why 
wasn’t  you  round  last  week  ? There  was  a fellow 
in  here  wanting  a lot  of  turpentine  and  I filled 
up  that  old  demijohn  with  it  and  scraped  the 
old  label  off.’” 

‘ 6 That  was  hard  luck  for  a fact,  but  you  can’t 
expect  to  always  have  things  come  your  way.  I 
suppose  there  are  lots  of  old  stamps  of  value  still 
found  in  these  country  postoffices?  Our  post- 
master here  only  the  other  day  let  me  have  a 
block  of  eight  fifteen  cent  yellow  that  he  didn’t 
know  he  had.” 

“Yes,  that  is  the  way  it  is,  Doc.  The  major- 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


183 


ity  of  postmasters  in  the  smaller  places  don’t 
know  the  character  of  these  stamps,  and  will  put 
a caller  off,  saying  he  has  nothing,  when  in  fact 
he  might  have  some  rare  ones  buried  back  some- 
where in  the  office.  I am  not  interested  so  much 
in  postage  stamps,  but  unless  I am  in  a great 
hurry  I manage  to  tackle  the  postoffice  before  I 
leave  town.  Some  of  these  hobo  postmasters  are 
characters  and  no  mistake.  Many  are  so  ignorant 
they  can’t  understand  what  I want  with  stamps 
issued  twenty  years  ago,  when  the  present  issue 
will  answer  for  postage  just  as  well.  One  old 
duffer  down  here  in  one  of  the  small  river  towns 
has  his  postoffice  in  with  the  general  store,  where 
everything  is  kept  from  a pulpit  down  to  a hay 
rack,  and  from  a spool  of  thread  up  to  a 
baby  carriage — one  of  those  typical  country 
stores  with  the  stove  in  the  center,  around  which 
you  can  always  find  the  oldest  inhabitant  and  two 
or  three  of  the  other  village  standbys  and  old- 
timers,  swapping  stories  and  discussing  politics, 
the  crop  prospects,  etc.,  with  an  ‘ I deau  vum,’ 
and  ‘I  tell  veau,’  as  Dr.  Holmes  puts  it.  Well, 
I walked  into  the  place  a short  time  ago  and  asked 
the  old  chap  with  circular  saw  whiskers  and  cut 


184 


STA.MP  HUNTING. 


‘ frowsy  ’ like  round  under  the  neck  and  ears,  if 
he  had  any  obselete  stamps  in  his  office.  ‘ What 
do  you  mean — postage  stamp  ? ’ asked  the  old  fel- 
low. ‘Yes,  but  those  issued  previous  to  1880  ’ 

‘ 1 reckon  not,  but  I’ll  see.  What  do  you  want 
to  do  with  ’em  ? ’ 

“ ‘I  use  them  to  trade  with  the  Czar  of  Eussia. 
He  wants  all  these  old  stamps  of  the  United  States 
he  can  get,  and  he  sends  me  Eussian  stamps  for 
my  little  boy  who  is  making  a collection.’ 

“ ‘ See  here,  young  fellow,  if  you  are  a gov- 
ernment officer  wanting  to  look  through  my  office 
spit  it  out,  and  show  your  authority,  but  don’t 
try  and  work  any  bunco  business  on  me.  I am 
not  so  green  as  I look,  ’ he  replied. 

‘ ‘ ‘Now  don’t  get  off  your  knocker,  my  dear  sir,’ 
I said,  I am  only  a traveling  man  gathering  up 
these  old  stamps  for  collectors  and  that  is  all 
there  is  to  it.  I will  look  through  your  stock  of 
stamps  and  if  I find  anything  I want,  I’ll  pay  you 
for  them,  and  if  there  isn’t  anything,  why,  there 
is  no  harm  done.’ 

“ ‘No  you  don’t,’  the  old  man  answered,  ‘ I am 
kinder  suspicious  of  you,  any  how.  If  you  want 
some  postage  stamps  I’ll  sell  them  to  you,  but  to 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


185 


prowl  through  my  goverment  property,  I’ll  not 
allow  you  or  any  other  man  to  do  it.  ’ 

“Well,  I had  to  bring  in  a friend  in  the  town 
to  explain  matters  to  him,  but  after  all  I didn’t 
find  anything  of  any  value,  and  the  old  chap  still 
wonders  to  what  possible  use  I could  put  any  of 
his  stamps,  except  for  postage.  But  that  is  the 
way  many  of  them  think.  Our  friend  Gurley 
wrote  to  a cross  roads  country  postoffice  out  here 
in  the  West  somewhere,  enclosing  a money  order 
for  twenty  dollars,  and  asking  for  certain  stamps. 
The  money  was  returned,  stating:  ‘ I don’t  think 
i have  no  rite  to  sele  stamps  away.  This  post 
offis  is  for  peple  livin’  here.  If  you  ain’t  got 
no  offis  in  your  town  where  you  can  buy  stamps, 
rite  to  the  guverment.  ’ 

“The  dense  ignorance  of  some  people  in  this 
age  of  advanced  civilization  is  very  amusing.  An 
old  chap  right  here  in  Illinois  flew  up  in  the  air 
in  a postoffice  one  day  and  vowed,  ‘It  is  down- 
right robbery  how  this  government  is  doing  with 
us  poor  people.  I read  to-day  that  all  it  costs  to 
make  postage  stamps  is  eleven  cents  a thousand, 
and  here  I have  to  pay  two  cents  apiece  for  ’em — 
it  is  a blamed  outrage.’ 


186 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


44  But  the  postoffices,  Doctor,  have  been  written 
to  so  much  and  so  many  have  called  for  any  pos- 
sible stamps  of  the  old  issues,  that  seldom  nowa- 
days is  anything  found  of  great  rarity.  I had 
quite  an  experience  with  a postoffice  in  a country 
town  up  here  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state.  I 
had  heard  that  they  had  twenty  thirty  cent  black 
United  States  postage,  1879,  worth  about  one 
dollar  each,  but  that  the  postmaster  wouldn’t  sell 
them.  I found  that  to  be  true.  He  said  he 
wouldn’t  sell  them;  he  didn’t  have  to  sell  them. 

4 4 4 How  is  it  you  refuse  my  money  for  stamps  ? 
Aren’t  you  here  for  that  purpose  ? ’ 

4 4 4 That  may  be,  but  these  stamps  are  mine  and 
I don’t  sell  them  to  anybody,  ’ he  replied. 

4 4I  learned  at  the  hotel  that  the  old  man’s  pretty 
daughter  was  there  alone  during  the  noon  hour, 
and  I might  get  her  to  let  me  have  them.  Now 
I am  not  so  much  with  the  ladies,  at  the  same 
time  not  so  very  slow  either  when  occasion  arises. 
I found  out  her  hobby  was  collecting  autographs, 
and  I happened  to  have  with  me  an  old  English 
letter  from  some  one  no  one  ever  heard  of  prob- 
ably, but  dated  back  twenty  years.  So  I struck 
a barber  shop,  trimmed  up  my  whiskers,  changed 


STAMP  HUMTISTGh 


187 


ends  with  my  cuffs  and  spruced  up,  Doc.,  alto- 
gether in  pretty  fair  shape.  On  entering  the 
office,  there  she  was,  with  golden  hair  and  soft 
brown  eyes.  I asked  for  a postal  card,  and  then 
with  the  most  engaging  smile  and  winning  ways 
that  I was  capable  of,  said:  ‘I  am  very  pleased  to 
meet  you,  Miss  Barnes.  I have  heard  of  you  a 
good  deal. 5 

“ ‘But  X don’t  think  I know  you,  sir,’  she  says, 
with  manner  not  so  engaging. 

‘ ‘ ‘Possibly  not,  but  I know  of  you  so  well  as 
having  a very  fine  and  rare  collecton  of  distin- 
guished autographs,  that  you  must  pardon  me.  I 
am  a stamp  hunter  myself,  and  oftentimes  get 
some  rare  letters,  and  as  I only  want  the  stamps 
the  letter  is  of  really  no  use.  Now  here  is  one  I 
think  is  very  rare,  signed  by  a noted  member  of 
the  English  Parliament,  and  you  are  welcome  to 
it,  if  you  like.  ’ 

“ ‘Oh,  thank  you  sir,  you  are  very  kind  in- 
deed,’ this  time  beaming  with  smiles. 

“ ‘I  suppose  you  haven’t  anything  around  the 
office  in  stamps  that  would  interest  me,  ’ I then 
asked  her. 


188 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


“ ‘I  don’t  think  so,  unless  it  is  the  Columbians, 
and  you  probably  have  those.  ’ 

“ ‘Yes,  those  I don’t  care  for.  Perhaps  if  I 
don’t  intrude,  and  if  you  will  allow  me,  I’ll  step 
in  behind  and  look  over  what  you  have.  Possibly 
there  may  be  some  I would  like  to  get.  ’ 

“ ‘Certainly,  step  right  in.’ 

“Well,  Doc.,  I went  through  the  stock  of 
stamps  and  turned  up  the  thirty  cent  black.  ‘I 
would  like  to  buy  these’,  I said,  ‘very  much.  ’ 

“ ‘I  am  afraid  father  wants  those;  he  said 
something  about  keeping  them,  but  he  can  get 
some  more  probably.  I’ll  let  you  have  them,  ’ she 
smilingly  answered;  and  I left  with  the  stamps 
and  a cordial  invitation  to  call  again  and  stay 
longer. 

“The  only  way  to  do  to  be  sure  of  good  finds  in 
post  offices  is  by  some  means  or  other  get  action 
on  the  stamps  yourself,  and  see  exactly  what  they 
have. 

‘ ‘Hunting  for  many  of  these  stamps,  however, 
is  like  the  fellow  going  out  for  bear.  He  didn’t 
get  any,  but  he  saw  a man  who  said  he  had  seen 
some  bear’s  tracks.  That  is  about  as  near  as  I 
come  to  many  of  the  stamps  I want.  I find  oth- 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


189 


ers  who  have  got  them  or  seen  or  heard  of  them, 
but  I don’t  seem  to  ever  get  sight  of  them.  I 
missed  it  in  Mt.  Carroll,  111. , the  other  day.  I 
had  discovered  about  forty  dollars’  worth  of  desir- 
able match  and  medicine  stamps  in  a drug  store, 
but  being  dinner  time  and  having  had  rather  a 
weak  breakfast,  I concluded  to  feed  first  and 
sponge  the  stamps  off  afterwards;  but  on  my  re- 
turn found  my  friend,  the  druggist,  jumping  up 
and  down  waving  a Scott’s  catalogue  in  his  fist, 
and  the  stamps  that  wouldn’t  have  cost  me  over  a 
dollar  if  I had  let  my  dinner  slide  for  an  hour  or 
so,  hit  my  pocket  book  for  a five  dollar  bill.” 
“Your  dinner  cost  you  then,  four  dollars  and  a 
half,  probably.” 

“Yes,  that’s  right.  When  you  ever  find  any- 
thing good  in  stamps,  stay  with  them  till  you  get 
’em,  Doc.” 

‘ ‘That’s  so.  A fellow  was  in  here  last  week 
after  stamps — about  the  tenth  one  in  the  last  six 
months.  I didn’t  do  him  any  good  except  to 
make  a trade,  out  of  which  I made  five  dollars.  ” 
“Yes,  a good  deal  of  this  stamp  business  is, 
anyhow,  like  the  fellow  selling  his  yellow  dog  for 


190 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


twenty  dollars.  He  didn’t  get  the  money  but  two 
bitch  pups  worth  ten  dollars  apiece. 

“But  speaking  of  dogs,  Doc.,  reminds  me  of  an 
old  girl  of  mine  I had  years  ago  in  Chicago.  She 
was  a stamp  fiend  too,  and  was  an  expensive  lux- 
ury for  me  in  those  days,  and  finally  nothing 
would  satisfy  her  but  a nice  fifteen  dollar  dog.  I 
can’t  for  the  life  of  me  at  this  time  understand, 
Doc.,  how  I could  spend  five  dollars  for  carriages, 
six  dollars  for  theater  tickets,  suppers,  flowers, 
etc. , and  fifteen  dollars  for  dogs  on  a salary  of 
eight  dollars  a week,  and  pay  board;  but  the  sad- 
dest thought  is,  I did’t  get  the  girl  after  all.” 
“That  was  real  sad;  I am  sorry  for  you,  but 
what  became  of  the  dog?  If  I had  it,  I might 
trade  it  off  for  more  stamps.” 

“I  don’t  know;  I only  wish  I had  my  fifteen 
dollars  back. 

“ ’Tis  sweet  to  love, 

But  oh,  how  bitter 

To  love  a girl 

And  then  not  git  her.” 

“Yes,  old  man,  but  you’re  better  off  than  some. 
The  old  saying  also  is,  you  know,  ‘ ’Tis  better  to 
have  loved  and  lost  than  never  to  have  loved  at 
all.’” 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


191 


“Yes,  that’s  true,  Doc.,  and  I might  have  got 
tired  after  a while,  dog  and  all.  Wasn’t  it  Solo- 
mon, or  was  it  Moses,  who  got  tired  of  love?” 

‘ ‘It  was  Solomon,  I reckon,  where  he  said, 
‘Comfort  me  with  apples,  for  I am  sick  of  love.” 
“It  is  too  bad  he  wasn’t  a stamp  collector. 
They  would  be  more  of  a comfort  to  him  than 
apples.  But  I must  hurry,  Docter.  You  have 
your  order  all  written  out,  have  you?  All  right.  ” 
‘ ‘It  isn’t  so  much  as  I would  like.  Next  time 
I’ll  have  a larger  order  for  you,  but  for  mercy’s 
sake,  don’t  pay  any  more  fifteen  dollars  for  dogs. 
There  are  plenty  round  town  here  for  fifty  cents 
that  ought  to  please  any  girl.” 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


DOWN  IN  “EGYPT.” 

“Your  hotels  are  improving  down  here  in 
‘Egypt,’  Doctor.” 

“Yes,  I understand  they  are.  There  was  a 
time  when,  the  sheets  had  to  be  used  for  table 
cloths  during  the  day,  but  now  I am  told  they 
have  sheets  on  the  bed,  as  well  as  cloths  for  the 
table.” 

“Yes,  that’s  so;  and  I notice  they  have  had 
wooden  floors  put  in  since  I was  here  last  in 
Punkville,  but  the  knots  in  the  mattress  still 
stick  out  pretty  sharp,  Doc.,  and  the  same 
mucilaginous  towels  and  cast  iron  soap  are  still 
here.  ” 

“Yes,  but  you  expect  too  much.  You 
can’t  have  sheets  on  the  bed,  magnolia  blossom 
soap  and  fringed  end  towels  all  at  once.  Give 
us  time.  But  speaking  of  hotels  reminds  me  of 
old  man  Mitchell.  Do  you  know  him  ? I don’t 
know  as  he  is  much  on  stamps,  but  he  is  a hum- 
ming bird  on  coins.” 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


193 


“ Do  I know  him  ? Well,  I guess  yes.  Every 
druggist  in  the  United  States,  and  almost  every 
body  else  knows  him,  his  diamonds  and  his 
plasters.  He  is  one  of  the  characters  of  the  day. 
Drinks  water  through  a glass  tube  so  he  won’t 
wet  his  mustache.” 

“ Yes,  that’s  the  same  fellow.  Well,  he  came 
in  here  last  summer,  dressed  as  usual  with  an 
eight  dollar  suit  of  clothes  and  carrying  from  five 
to  six  thousand  dollars  worth  of  diamonds  and 
coins  about  his  person.  His  shirt  had  not  been 
laundered  for  at  least  a month,  but  the  usual 
diamond  stud,  as  big  as  a walnut,  loomed  out 
just  the  same,  like  a light  house  at  sea.  He  asked 
for  a drink  of  water,  and  taking  out  the  glass 
tube  you  speak  about,  nearly  a foot  long,  drinks 
through  it,  wipes  it  on  his  handkerchief,  and  then 
of  all  the  cussing  on  our  hotel  here,  your  feeble 
protests  are  like  a gentle  zephyr,  side  of  a cyclone. 
I don’t  know  what  they  did  to  him  over  there, 
but  he  said  the  bugs  would  have  thrown  him  out 
of  the  window  if  the  cockroaches  hadn’t  come  in 
and  taken  his  side  and  killed  the  bed  bugs.  Said 
his  breakfast  consisted  of  sole  leather  the  propri- 
etor called  fried  liver.  On  opening  the  eggs  they 


194 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


walked  away  from  him.  You  could  drive  nails 
with  the  bread,  and  sitting  at  the  further  end  of 
the  table  the  coffee  was  so  weak  it  would  never 
have  reached  him  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
strength  of  the  butter.  After  he  had  cussed 
around  a while  at  that  rate,  he  went  out  into  a 
grocery  store  around  the  corner  and  bought  some 
crackers  and  cheese.  He  then  stopped  into  the 
bank  opposite  and  undid  his  wealth  and  spread  it 
out  in  the  window.  If  you  know  what  that  man 
carries  you  will  wonder  as  everyone  else,  that 
some  one  has  not  waylaid  him  long  before  and 
hit  him  over  the  head.  He  must  live  a charmed 
life.  Well,  every  pocket  had  something;  that 
noted  chain  of  his  of  rare  twenty  dollar  gold 
pieces,  1804  dollar,  etc.,  came  first.  He  then 
made  a pile  of  smaller  gold  pieces,  rare  silver 
coins,  diamonds,  etc. , etc. , and  there  he  sat,  with 
nearly  the  whole  town  looking  at  him,  eating  his 
crackers  and  cheese.  You  know  for  yourself 
what  he  carries,  and  our  unprejudiced  jeweler 
here  next  door  places  the  conservative  estimate 
of  at  least  five  thousand  dollars  as  the  cash  value 
of  the  stuff  that  man  carries  with  him  around  the 
country.” 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


195 


“But  I don’t  wonder,  Doc.,  at  his  kicking  too, 
on  the  hotel  here.  In  this  part  of  the  state  they 
are  the  worst  in  all  my  travels,  and  from  a piece 
of  rubber  tire  found  in  my  hash  down  here  in 
Grayville  I should  judge  that  the  bicycle  has  in- 
deed supplanted  the  horse,  at  least  here  in  Ill- 
inois. It  is  in  these  rank  and  tough  places,  how- 
ever, where  I make  my  best  finds  in  stamps,  which 
fully  compensates  for  the  shyness  of  the  grub.” 
“There  is  some  comfort  in  it  then,  after  all; 
but  what  have  you  got  hold  of  lately  ? I am  still 
hungry  for  a six  cent  orange  proprietary.  Why 
don’t  you  uncover  something  like  that  in  your 
finds  ?” 

“Yes,  Doc.,  why  don’t  I?  Why  doesn’t  any- 
body else  find  them  ? They  are  not  to  be  had. 
Still,  I don’t  give  up  hope  yet.  I may  surprise 
you  some  day  with  a great  find  of  these  stamps.” 
‘ ‘ I hope  so,  I want  one  of  them,  and  I don’t 
know  where  I can  get  one  for  less  than  thirty-five 
dollars,  do  you  ? ” 

“No,  it  takes  that  sum  to  procure  a perfect 
specimen,  but  I know  where  they  are  placed  and 
you  will  hear  from  me  the  first  one  after  landing 
any.  I came  so  near  and  yet  so  far  from  on© 


196 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


the  other  day  in  Highland,  111.  I took  every- 
thing I could  see  of  any  account  in  an  old  drug 
store  there,  but  left  a lot  of  pills  with  two  three 
cent  green  proprietaries  on  them.  What  do  you 
think  ? A local  collector  in  the  dry  goods  business 
a few  doors  away  looked  through  after  me, 
found  these  boxes  of  pills,  and  the  last  of  the  lot, 
that  I did  not  see,  contained  a beautiful  specimen 
of  this  rare  stamp,  which  he  obtained  for  twenty- 
five  cents ! I feel  like  the  farmer  who  looked 
back  over  the  hill  and  found  his  load  of  potatoes 
had  slid  out  through  the  open  tail  board.  The 
English  language  wasn’t  strong  enough  to  express 
my  feelings.” 

“Why  in  thunder  didn’t  you  look  more 
carefully  ? You  are  the  greatest  fellow  I ever 
heard  of  for  just  being  ‘ too  late ’ or  just  ‘missing 
things.  ’ ” 

“But  like  George  Washington,  Doc.,  history 
fails  to  furnish  another  instance  like  his  for  daring 
and  determination,  when  on  that  memorable 
Christmas  Eve,  with  his  small  army  of  half 
starved,  bare-legged  and  bare-footed  soldiers, 
with  their  pants  out  at  the  seat — if  they  had  any 
pants — he  crossed  the  Delaware  and  captured  the 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


197 


Hessians.  He  lost  more  battles  than  he  ever 
won,  but  he  organized  victory  out  of  defeat  and 
triumphed  in  the  end.  He  was  determined  and  I 
am  like  him  in  that  respect.  I do  not  grumble,  I 
do  not  murmur,  I do  not  repine,  and  although 
there  may  be  some  doubt  of  my  standing  up  close 
to  him  on  veracity,  I’ll  get  there  after  a while  on 
persistency  and  determination  in  the  hunt  for 
these  stamps.” 

“I  hope  so,  I now  see  this  Spanish  war  will 
bring  out  more  revenue  stamps,  re-enacting  the 
laws  of  the  ’sixties.” 

“ Yes,  I notice  it.  It  ought  to  increase  the 
value  of  the  old  ones  by  making  many  new  collec- 
tors, and  it  no  doubt  will.  Since  I have  seen  you 
last  I have  made  some  pretty  good  finds  just  the 
same  and  right  down  in  this  section  of  the  state. 
Do  you  know  where  Willow  Hill  is  ? ” 

‘ 4 1 guess  I do.  I would  be  ashamed  to  die  in 
that  place.  I was  there  in  the  ’seventies  and  if 
the  inhabitants  haven’t  learned  a great  deal  since, 
they  probably  don’t  know  the  civil  war  is  over 
yet,  and  about  ten  years  from  now  they  will  know 
who  Dewey  and  Sampson  are.  The  drug  stocks 
are  old  enough  to  have  stamps  and  whiskers  too. 


198 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


How  did  you  get  there  ? Did  you  ride  on  the 
railroad  or  drive  over  from  Robinson  ? ” 

‘ ‘ 1 rode  on  the  railroad,  Doc. , but  the  next 
time  I guess  I’ll  walk.  I’ll  get  there  quicker. 
Of  all  the  railroads  in  the  country  that  Indiana 
and  Illinois  Southern  is  the  one  that  ought  to  go 
down  in  history  like  Dewey  and  Hobson.  ” 

“That’s  so — it  is  a corker  and  no  mistake. 
One  day  I was  visiting  my  old  home  and  thought 
I would  go  over  to  Effingham,  about  twenty-five 
miles,  and  come  back  in  the  evening.  It  rained 
soon  after  I started,  and  the  roof  of  the  car 
leaked  so  every  passenger  had  his  umbrella  up. 
After  a while  the  train  stopped  and  I asked  a 
traveling  man  who  was  looking  out  of  the  window 
what  was  the  trouble,  and  he  said  there  were  a lot 
of  cattle  ahead  of  us.  In  a few  minutes  the  train 
started  and  went  along  a half  an  hour,  making 
fully  three  miles,  when  it  stopped  again.  The 
traveling  man  looked  out  and  I asked  him,  ‘What’s 
up  now?’  and  he  said,  ‘They  have  caught  up  again 
with  those  cattle.  ’ It  took  me  nearly  four  hours 
to  make  twenty-five  miles,  and  I was  all  day  get- 
ting back.  The  road  ahead  of  you  looks  as  if  an 
earthquake  had  struck  the  country,  the  rails  were 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


199 


so  warped  and  twisted.  Once  the  train  seemed  to 
go  real  smooth,  comparatively,  and  I asked  the 
conductor,  ‘What  have  you  been  doing  right  here, 
putting  down  new  rails,  or  why  do  we  ride  so 
easily  ? 5 

“ ‘No,  we  are  off  the  track  now,’  he  said.” 

“Yes,  down  here  in  ‘Egypt,5  as  they  call  it, 
Doc.,  in  Chicago,  bum  hotels  are  not  the  only 
things  on  the  bum;  even  doctors  offices  and  drug 
stores  are  twenty  years  behind  the  times.  Down 
here  in  Carmi  on  the  Big  Four  road,  lives  a phy- 
sician whose  office  reminds  one  of  the  poem, 
‘Bachelors’  Hall,’ — ‘ashes  and  praty-skins  kiver 
the  floor.’  I don’t  believe  the  place  was  ever 
swept  out;  his  instruments,  surgical  dressings, 
medicines  and.  office  paraphernalia  are  scattered 
around  on  the  shelves  and  the  floor  and  the  table 
and  every  place,  and  the  doctor  himself  reflects 
the  condition  of  his  office.  Uncouth,  unkempt 
and  unclean,  but  that  fellow  does  the  business  just 
the  same,  and  people  for  miles  around,  even  in 
other  counties,  come  to  him  for  treatment  and 
advice.  I called  on  him  at  the  suggestion  of  a 
druggist,  to  see  if  there  was  anything  in  our  line 
he  wanted.  From  sizing  up  the  place  I did  not 


200 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


expect  much  of  an  order,  but  the  old  chap  didn’t 
let  up  on  ordering  goods  till  I went  through  the 
whole  catalogue,  and  it  resulted  in  an  order 
larger  than  all  the  rest  in  the  place  put  together. 
No,  you  can’t  tell  by  the  looks  of  a toad  how  far 
he  can  jump,  and  this  physician  probably  prefers 
to  be  king  among  the  hogs  than  hog  among  the 
kings.  But  I was  going  to  tell  you  about  my 
stamp  finds,  Boc. , here  in  ‘ Egypt,  ’ and  I have 
found  my  very  best  stamps  in  these  hobo  places. 
In  a drug  store  in  this  town  of  Willow  Hill, 
where  you  were,  I made  a find  that  I didn’t  know 
was  worth  much  till  a week  later.  I had  given 
the  druggist  seventy-five  cents,  his  own  price,  for 
what  few  medicine  stamps  I found  in  his  store, 
although  they  did  not  catalogue  over  seven  dol- 
lars and  not  all  in  the  best  condition,  when  he 
asked  if  old  postage  stamps  were  any  good. 

‘ Sometimes,’  I said,  ‘ what  have  you  got  ? ’ 

“ ‘Oh,  I don’t  know,’  he  says.  ‘My  brother  had 
a habit  of  keeping  all  his  old  correspondence,  and 
there  is  an  old  trunk  upstairs  filled  full  of  old  let- 
ters. ’ 

“Well,  he  went  up  and  got  them  down,  and  I 
spent  an  hour  looking  over  the  lot,  and  selected 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


201 


about  twenty  stamps  in  all,  for  which  a dollar  and 
a half  seemed  to  satisfy  him  very  much.  ‘ You’re 

a liberal  kind  of  a chap,5  he  said.  ‘There  was  a 
fellow  along  here  last  summer  wrho  gave  me  only 
fifty  cents  for  twice  as  many. 5 

‘ ‘That  accounted  for  so  many  common  stamps 
left  in  the  trunk,  but  I didn’t  say  anything,  and 
looking  carefully  over  the  lot  last  wreek,  I discov- 
ered two  copies  of  Scott’s  No.  723,  catalogued  at 
fifty  dollars  each,  that  the  other  fellow  over- 
looked, too. 

“While  rooting  through  the  other  drug  store 
in  the  place,  I made  a find  also.” 

“What  one  was  it,  next  to  the  postoffice?” 
“Yes,  sir.” 

‘ ‘That  wras  my  old  place.  There  was  a lot  of 
old  stamps  there  when  I left,  but  you  and  these 
other  hunters  must  have  got  them  all,  as  I didn’t 
find  anything  when  I was  down  there  last.  ” 

“But  I didn’t  get  very  much,  and  the  drug- 
gist was  very  much  taken  back  when  I voluntarily 
offered  him  one  dollar  for  five  ten  cent  black  and 
green  proprietaries,  cataloguing  twelve  dollars  and 
a half , and  one  ten  cent  1878,  cataloguing  fifteen 
dollars.  ‘I  didn’t  know  there  was  a premium  on 


202 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


’em,’  says  he.  ‘I  know  some  coins  are  rare,  but 
I don’t  know  who  would  pay  anything  for  old 
stamps;  no  value  to  them,  but  I reckon  you 
wouldn’t  give  me  a whole  dollar  if  they  wa’n’t 
worth  that  to  yer.  ’ 

“He  guessed  all  right  then,  Doc;  I am  not 
much  in  the  habit  of  paying  out  good  money,  just 
to  spend  it  for  nothing.  But  talk  about  your 
hotel  here.  I don’t  know  as  Mitchell  ever  landed 
in  a town  called  Newton,  but  they  only  charge  one 
dollar  a day,  and  my  conscience  reasons  out  to  me 
to  put  down  three  dollars  on  my  expense  book. 
It  was  worth  two  dollars  to  eat  the  blamed  stuff ; 
and  when  I asked  for  a toothpick,  the  Dutch 
proprietor  said,  ‘I  did  haf  some,  but  dem  dam 
fellers  dat  stop  here  took  ’em  all  avay.  ’ ” 

“You’re  onto  your  job  all  right,  all  right. 
You  traveling  men  always  make  up  these  things, 
working  in  an  overcoat  and  a suit  of  clothes  or 
your  expense  account,  etc.  How  do  you  manage 
to  do  it  without  the  firm  seeing  it  or  knowing  it? 
It’s  a mystery  to  me.” 

‘ ‘That  is  one  of  the  ways  of  trade.  It  is  what 
is  called  ‘diplomacy,’  Doc.  I was  traveling  for 
a house  a number  of  years  ago,  who  were  very 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


203 


particular  about  itemizing  each  expense,  so  I put 
down  in  the  daily  expense  book:  ‘Shave  fifteen 
cents;  news  ten  cents;  bath  twenty-five  cents, ’etc. 
The  first  of  the  month  came  round,  and  the  sales 
manager  wrote  me  that  the  house  did  not  allow  ex- 
penses for  shaves,  baths,  and  the  like.  The  next 
month  it  wasn’t  down  on  the  book,  at  least  they 
didn’t  see  it  on  the  book,  but  it  was  there  just 
the  same.  Instead  of  putting  down  two  dollars 
or  two  dollars  and  a half  for  hotel  bill,  I made 
it  cost  three  dollars,  and  worked  in  a shampoo 
and  a haircut  onto  ’em  also.  One  time  I had 
been  on  a whirl  in  Kansas  City  to  an  extent 
that  I was  about  twenty  dollars  shy  on  my 
account,  and  how  to  work  this  in  on  my  ex- 
penses was  a problem.  I finally  solved  it,  how- 
ever, by  leaving  my  trunk  behind  and  toting 
another  grip,  and  fifty  cents  to  seventy-five 
cents  baggage  transfer  went  down  each  day  on  my 
book,  while  my  trunk,  in  fact,  was  left  behind  for 
four  or  five  weeks.  This  putting  down  fifty  cents 
’bus  fare  everyday  is  another  great  act  of  working 
in  odds  and  ends  of  necessary  expenses.  Most  of 
the  hotels  in  my  territory  have  either  free  ’buses, 
or  are  within  reach  of  a street  car,  or  within  a 


304 


STAMP  HUNTING, 


block  or  two  from  the  depot*  I put  down  fifty 
cents  f 01  ’bus  fare  in  Cairo,  Illinois,  once,  and  the 
firm  wrote  me  asking  where  the  Halliday  House 
had  moved  to;  that  when  the  writer  was  out  there 
last  fall,  the  hotel  was  right  next  to  the  depot.  I 
wrote  them  that  I did  not  know  where  the  hotel 
was,  and  the  hack  driver  was  so  eager  to  earn  his 
fare,  he  fooled  me  and  drove  me  five  or  six  blocks 
around  the  city  and  then  back  again. 

“But  after  all,  Doc.,  business  is  what  is  wanted, 
and  the  expense  account  is  never  questioned 
if  orders  are  coming  in  large  enough  and  fast 
enough  to  warrant  it.  Every  conscientious  trav- 
eler has  legitimate  expenses  that  are  impossible 
always  to  think  of  and  get  down,  and  no  house 
will  ever  question  a reasonable  amount  for  the 
total  expenses.  One  of  our  Hebrew  brethren 
was  out  quite  a while  without  being  heard  from. 
Finally  his  expense  account  came  in,  with  an 
elaborate  drawing  of  how  he  made  the  territory 
from  day  to  day.  The  firm  wrote  him  like  this: 
‘We  have  received  your  illustrated  route  list. 
It  is  very  pretty,  but  please  send  us  no  more 
maps;  we  have  all  the  maps  we  want.  What  we 
want  is  orders.  We  notice  in  your  expense  ac- 


STA.MP  HUNTING. 


205 


count  a charge  of  eleven  dollars  for  a horse  and 
buggy;  where  is  the  horse,  and  what  have  you 
done  with  the  buggy?  We  also  notice  a charge 
of  six  dollars  for  billiards.  Please  buy  no  more 
billiards  for  us.  We  have  no  use  for  them  in 
the  clothing  business.’  ” 

“He  beats  you,  doesn’t  he?  Well,  I suppose, 
as  you  say,  orders  talk.  Well,  it  is  late,  and 
being  the  first  of  the  month,  I have  my  books  yet 
to  make  out.  I suppose  you  expect  an  order 
from  me.  Well,  let’s  see.  Put  down — 

% gross  bella  plasters, 

1 box  Poorman’s  plasters, 

% gross  court,  on  silk, 

10  lbs.  cotton  in  lbs., 

5 “ “ “ i’S; 

5 “ “ “ oz. 

Cross  that  out  in  quarters.  I find  I have  five 
pounds  back  underneath  the  show  case.  The 
physicians  seem  to  be  stuck  on  J.  & J.  ’s  gauze, 
but  I can  get  in  Lee’s  all  right.  I want  only 
about  five  5 yds.  cor.  sublimate.  I guess  that’s 
all.” 

“How  about  corn  plasters?” 

“I  can’t  seem  to  sell  anything  but  Sarg’s  corn 


206 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


plasters.  A fellow  came  along  here  a while  ago 
and  gave  a lot  of  free  samples  to  our  shoe  men 
to  distribute,  and  it  has  made  quite  a demand 
for  it.” 

‘ ‘It’s  a good  thing,  too.  If  I am  not  mistaken, 
Doctor,  we  make  it  for  those  people.  ” 

“It’s  all  right,  anyhow.  That’s  all.  Send  it 
through  Barker  & Wheeler,  Peoria.  Keep 
a-digging  for  six  cent  orange  proprietaries.  ” 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


A STUDY  IN  HUMAN  NATURE. 

< ‘ I suppose  in  your  travels  you  find  many 
cranks  among  us  druggists  too.  The  business  is 
what  makes  us  so.  The  narrow  confinement, 
long  hours,  small  profits,  excessive  and  unwar- 
ranted taxation,  cut  prices,  etc.,  place  the 
pharmacist  in  rather  an  unenviable  position  at  the 
present  time.” 

u Yes,  I guess  that’s  true,  Doctor.  There  was 
a time  when  the  province  of  a druggist  was  to 
dispense  prescriptions,  but  nowadays  his  store  has 
got  down  to  a regular  accommodation  shop — 
but  speaking  of  characters  among  druggists,-  have 
you  ever  heard  of  John  Denslow  of  St.  Joseph, 
Mo.” 

“ No,  I don’t  think  I have.” 

“ Well,  he  is  one  of  the  characters  of  the  trade, 
but  a right  good  fellow,  too.  He  is  one  of  the 
few  druggists  who  is  an  expert  salesman  as  well 
as  a competent  pharmacist.  Anyone  can  wrap  a 
piece  of  paper  and  a string  around  a patent  med- 

207 


208 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


icine  and  hand  it  out  when  called  for,  but  when  a 
bald-headed  chap  comes  in  and  wants  a razor 
strop  which  you  haven’t  got,  it  takes  a salesman 
to  satisfy  him  with  a line  tooth  comb.” 

“ That’s  so.” 

“ John  is  this  kind  of  a chap.  If  anyone  came 
into  his  store  with  money  to  spend,  he  would 
manage  to  get  the  coin  anyhow,  and  find  some- 
thing to  please  the  customer.  He  wasn’t  like  the 
Conrad  Mercantile  Company  in  the  palmy  days  of 
Buffalo,  Wyoming.  I was  out  there  at  the  time 
and  one  day  a fellow  came  in  and  wanted  a 
nickel’s  worth  of  cheese.  The  manager  heard  it 
and  hollered  out:  ‘ Tell  that  blamed  tenderfoot 

if  he  hasn’t  got  two  bits  to  go  back  East  and  get 
his  cheese.  ’ But  with  J ohn,  he  would  let  nothing 
escape.  One  day  a boy  came  in  and  wanted  a 
dime’s  worth  of  pigeon’s  milk.  Our  friend  was 
staggered  for  a minute,  but  he  raked  in  the  ten 
cent  piece  and  told  the  boy  that  it  was  expensive 
stuff  and  ten  cents  did  not  get  much,  and,  any- 
way, he  hardly  ever  let  it  out  without  a doctor’s 
prescription.  ‘ Who  was  it  for  ? ’ The  boy  re- 
plied that  a certain  insurance  man  sent  for  it,  and 
John  said,  ‘All  right,  I’ll  give  it  to  him,’  and 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


209 


went  behind  the  case  for  a minute  and  came  out 
with  a small  bottle  containing  some  dark  liquid 
labeled,  ‘Pigeon’s  milk;  teaspoonful  in  a little 
water  after  each  meal.’  And  the  boy  went  out 
with  it.  In  a few  minutes  he  returned  and  said 
he  wanted  the  money  back,  that  ‘ that  wasn’t  pig- 
eon’s milk — pigeon’s  milk  was  white.  ’ 

“ ‘Why  didn’t  he  tell  you  he  wanted  white  pig- 
eon’s milk,’  says  John,  and  took  the  bottle  and 
put  in  something  to  make  it  white.  The  boy 
never  came  again.  The  joke  seemed  to  be  on  the 
insurance  man. 

“The  druggist  was  nonplussed  once,  though. 
A Chinaman  came  in  one  day  and  wanted  ten 
cents’  worth  ‘fiofloxi.’ 

“ ‘What  is  it?  ’ asked  the  apothecary. 

“ ‘ Fiofloxi,’  said  the  Chinee. 

“ ‘Talk  United  States — what  do  you  want.’ 

“ ‘ Fiofloxi,  fiofloxi,’  repeats  the  Chinaman. 
“After  taking  down  about  everything  in  the 
store,  John  finally  found  out  that  what  the  China- 
man wanted  was  fine  flaxseed.” 

“Yes,  a druggist  gets  all  kinds  of  calls  like 
that  and  of  all  the  misspelled  words  in  writing 
orders,  it  would  seem  that  no  one  knows  how  to 


210 


STAMP  HUNTmG. 


spell  correctly  anything  a druggist  carries.  I 
have  kept  a list  of  some  of  the  orders  I get. 
Here  are  a few: 

‘ ‘ ‘ Kokarets.  ’ 

££  ‘Lacerated  Babies’  Food.’ 

£ ‘ £ Cas  Kara  Se  Grady.  ’ 

‘ ‘ ‘ Ox  Alick  Assid.  ’ 

£ £ £ Spils  Kure.  ’ 

£ £ £ Buels  Koff  Syrup.  ’ 

£ £ £ Suttlers  Powders.  ’ 

££  £ 10c  worth  Inset  Powder,  15c  puffer  withit.’ 

£ £ £ Proxide  of  Hog’s  Head  Gene.  ’ 

£ £ £ Gum  De  Pitch.  ’ 

£ £ ‘ Tomlins  iy  water.  ’ 

£ ‘ £ Kaster  Ole.  ’ 

££  ‘Parigodic.’ 

££  ‘Kampher  Spirit.’ 

£ £ £ Halls  Catar  Kure.  ’ 

£ £ ‘ Cherries  Pictorial.  ’ 

£ £ £ Benzine  Plaster.  ’ 

“ ‘ Swete  Spireits  of  Nighter,’  and  the  worst  of 
all  was  an  order  for  three  cents’  worth  of  ‘Red 
Physiftea,’  meaning  red  precipitate.  Yes,  the 
druggists  get  the  brunt  of  everything  nowadays. 
He  is  simply  the  public  servant  and  everything  is 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


211 


expected  of  him,  from  taking  care  of  satchels  and 
handbags  up  to  nursing  a baby  while  the  mother 
does  the  rest  of  her  shopping.  An  old  lady 
came  in  here  the  other  day  and  said  she  had  seen 
Hood’s  sarsaparilla  advertised,  and  that  she  would 
try  a nickel’s  worth,  and  if  it  helped  her  she 
would  order  more.  Talk  about  your  exalted  and 
professional  side  of  the  drug  business — it  is  not 
more  exalted  now  than  a peanut  vender’s.  Again, 
the  responsibility  resting  on  the  druggist,  above 
all  other  tradespeople,  is  something  the  general 
public  does  not  consider  at  all.  You  go  into  a 
grocery  store  and  order  some  sugar,  and  the  grocer 
sends  up  salt.  All  you  can  do  is  to  send  it  back 
and  cuss  the  grocer;  but  if  you  order  quinine  from 
a druggist  and  he  puts  up  morphine,  ‘ where  is  he 
at.’  The  druggist  gets  all  the  disagreeable 
things  to  do  and  answer.  If  the  base  ball  team 
in  town  is  hard  up,  they  want  you  to  help  them 
out  the  first  one.  Only  this  morning  a Salvation 
Army  man  was  in  and  said  they  were  shy  one 
hundred  dollars  on  their  rentr  and  a dollar  apiece 
from  the  merchants  would  get  them  out  of  debt. 
Everyone  thinks  the  druggist  and  the  doctor  earn 
their  money  so  easily  and  are  getting  rich  so  fast. 


212 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


The  truth  of  the  matter  is  the  average  druggist 
to-day  is  not  earning  a decent  living,  is  confined 
sixteen  hours  a day  and  seven  days  in  a week  and 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  in  a year,  and 
his  clerks  earning  fifty  to  sixty  dollars  a month 
are  much  better  off.” 

“Yes,  that’s  exactly  so,  Doc.  No  one  knows 
it  any  better  than  I do,  and  the  deplorable  con- 
dition of  the  drug  business,  especially  in  the 
largest  cities,  tells  on  us  too.  There  was  a time 
when  salesmen  on  the  road  woud  draw  five  and 
six  thousand  dollars  a year,  but  they  are  now  ‘have 
beens.’  It  is  harder  every  year  to  sell  goods; 
there  is  less  profit  on  what  you  do  sell,  and  less 
compensation  in  it.  Yes,  like  the  druggists,  the 
traveling  man’s  life  is  not  strewn  all  the  time  with 
roses,  but  I get  even  with  myself  in  the  stamp 
business  and  stamp  finds.” 

“You  are  more  fortunate  than  many  in  this 
particular.  What  luck  have  you  had  lately  ? I 
have  added  quite  a few  more  of  the  match 
stamps  since  you  were  here.” 

“I  haven’t  picked  up  much  in  my  last  trip, 
Doc. , only  a few  odds  and  ends.  A druggist  in 
Foreston,  111.,  recognized  me  at  once  when  I en- 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


213 


tered  his  store  last  week,  as  getting  some  stamps 
from  him  the  last  trip  around — some  of  those  ten 
cent  black  and  green  proprietaries,  worth  a dollar 
each — and  trotted  out  three  more  of  them  with 
the  remark  that  he  had  saved  them  for  me,  thought 
I would  be  around  again. 

‘ 4 But  I must  tell  you  of  my  experience  with  a 
druggist  down  here,  not  far  from  Peoria.  Of  all 
the  closest,  hardest  and  meanest  men  to  sell  to  in  the 
trade,  he  heads  the  list.  To  show  you  what  we 
have  to  put  up  with  once  in  a while  in  selling 
to  some  druggists,  I’ll  tell  you  how  I had  to  deal 
with  him.  In  the  first  place,  after  I had  satisfied 
him  that  Lee’s  goods  were  all  right  in  price,  the- 
quality  wasn’t  satisfactory.  The  cotton  didn’t 
seem  so  white  as  J.  & J.’s  and  wasn’t  so  long  a 
fibre,  and  was  lumpy,  etc.  Then  he  got  some 
water,  but  the  absorbent  qualities  seemed  all 
right,  and  he  ordered  a couple  of  pounds  to  try. 
You  know  how  it  is,  Doc.,  when  you  are  buying 
goods  and  waiting  on  trade  at  the  same  time.  No 
one  is  apt  to  let  a customer  go  in  order  to  give  a 
drummer  attention,  and  every  few  minutes  this 
druggist  would  drop  me  to  wait  on  a customer. 
I had  him  started  on  cotton  when  a little  girl 


814 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


came  in  and  wanted  ten  cents’  worth  of  something 
to  take  the  lice  off  of  baby’s  head.  He  wasn’t  so 
long  filling  that,  and  came  back  to  me:  ‘Now 

about  belladonna  plasters;  how  much  do  you  ask 
for  them  by  the  gross  ? ’ he  asked.  I told  him, 
and  he  half  admitted  it  was  cheap,  but  my  sam- 
ple didn’t  smell  like  belladonna,  and  it  didn’t 
stick  right.  Then  he  had  to  smell  of  it  again  and 
get  a sample  of  Bauer  & Black’s,  and  weigh  them. 
By  that  time  a woman  came  in  and  wanted  five 
cents’  worth  of  plaster  of  paris.  This  was  kept  in 
the  back  part  of  the  store,  and  it  was  some  little 
time  before  he  had  it  wrapped  up,  when  the  lady 
said:  ‘ Oh,  that’s  too  much, — three  cents’ worth  is 
enough.’  After  he  had  got  back  to  me  he  had 
forgotten  the  smell  of  the  plaster,  and  had  to 
smell  of  it  again,  and  finally  said  he  would  try  a 
half  a dozen  at  the  gross  price,  but  I had  antici- 
pated the  size  of  his  order  and  had  made  the 
dozen  price  in  quoting  by  the  gross,  but  I kicked 
on  half  a dozen,  and  after  five  minutes’  arguing 
I had  him  increase  it  to  a dozen.  By  this  time  a 
lady  came  in  with  a five  dollar  bill  for  a two  cent 
stamp,  and  she  had  hardly  gone  out  when  a sweet 
little  miss  entered  and  talked  away  till  she  got  the 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


215 


druggist  to  buy  a ticket  from  her  to  a church 
fair.  By  that  time  he  had  forgotten  what  he  had 
ordered  from  me  and  I had  to  commence  all  over 
again.  When  he  got  down  to  corn  plasters,  the 
holes  were  too  small,  and  in  the  bunion  plasters, 
the  holes  were  too  big.  The  court  plasters  were 
too  thick  and  the  isinglass  plaster  too  thin.  No 
matter  what  I had  there  was  some  kick  coming, 
and  slow — my  Godfrey  ! I was  in  his  store  over 
an  hour  by  that  time  and  hadn’t  sold  him  five  dol- 
lars’ worth  of  stuff  yet.  Finally  he  decided  on  a 
twelfth  of  a dozen  boxes  of  plain  and  medicated 
gauze.  I put  that  down,  when  the  door  opened 
and  a fellow  came  in  as  if  he  wanted  to  buy  some- 
thing, and  my  friend  dropped  me  to  see  what  he 
wanted.  He  proved  to  be  an  advertising  man 
with  some  clock  scheme  or  other,  and  you  would 
hardly  believe  it,  but  that  fellow  talked  him  into 
his  scheme,  and  the  druggist  signed  his  contract. 
I was  then  hopping  mad.  Of  all  the  trials  of  a 
traveling  man,  the  hardest,  and  one  that  makes 
him  cuss  worse  than  anything  else,  is  to  hang 
around  a drug  store  hour  after  hour  for  an  order 
and  just  as  you  get  your  customer  started, 


216 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


some  6 skate  ’ comes  in  and  gets  the  buyer  away 
from  you  onto  his  stuff. 

“Well,  he  got  back  finally,  and  I put  down 
fifty  cents5  worth  more,  when  a lady  came  in 
with  a prescription  calling  for  six  dozen  capsules. 
It  would  take  fifteen  minutes,  and  she  would  wait. 
I waited  also,  but  mentally  to  myself,  I was 
damning  everybody  and  everything.  Finally, 
however,  she  got  her  capsules,  and  with  one  or 
two  more  minor  interruptions,  I got  my  order 
amounting  to  eight  dollars  and  thirty-seven  cents. 

“With  a new  account  my  house  instructs  me  to 
investigate  their  credits,  and  I stepped  into  the 
bank  to  find  out  about  him.  The  cashier  said  he 
was  a bad  egg;  that  they  had  all  kinds  of  trouble 
collecting  drafts  on  him;  that  he  owed  everybody 
he  knew  of;  that  he  wouldn’t  advise  my  people  to 
fill  the  order  unless  it  was  accompanied  by  the 
cash,  etc.  By  that  time  I found  I had  missed  my 
train,  and  that  there  was  no  other  out  till  the 
same  time  the  next  day,  except  a way  freight  at 
four  o’clock  in  the  morning.  The  other  druggist 
was  out  of  town,  and  there  I was.  Talk  about 
your  trials  of  a druggist.  A traveling  man  sees 
unhappy  days,  too,  Doc. 


STA.MP  HUNTING. 


217 


“But  after  all,  it  was  a good  thing  for  me  that 
I did  miss  my  train.  Having  leisure  time,  I went 
back  to  my  friend’s  store  after  dinner,  mousing 
around  for  old  medicine  stamps.  ‘These  stamps 
are  worth  a good  deal  of  money,  nowadays,  ’ says 
the  old  chap,  ‘and  I am  not  giving  them  away.  ’ 

“ ‘But  I don’t  want  something  for  nothing, ’I 
replied.  ‘Let  me  look  through  here,  and  I’ll 
make  an  offer,  or  put  your  own  price  on  the 
stamps,  and  if  satisfactory  I’ll  pay  it.’ 

“That  suited  him,  and  I dug  through  from 
top  to  bottom,  but  didn’t  find  anything  but  a few 
common  stamps,  not  worth  a ten-cent  piece,  that 
he  wanted  a dollar  for.  I was  going  to  leave  in 
disgust,  when  I spied  an  old  Solon  Palmer’s  per- 
fumery bottle  in  his  show  case,  and  lifting  it  up, 
was  astounded  to  see  three  ten  cent  blue  1878 
proprietaries,  and  one  six  cent,  a total  value  by 
Scott’s  standard  catalogue  of  forty-six  dollars 
and  fifty  cents. 

‘ ‘ ‘What  do  you  want  for  these?  ’ 1 asked. 
‘The  private  stamps  are  what  I am  looking  for, 
but  I’ll  give  you  face  value  for  those,  ten  cents 
apiece,’  not  thinking  he  would  take  me  up. 


218 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


“ ‘No,  sir,  they  are  worth  more  than  that. 
Why,  my  sister  down  in  Vermont  got  a whole 
dollar  for  one  stamp,  but  you  can  have  them  for 
a dollar  and  not  a cent  less.  ’ 

“ ‘No,’  I said,  ‘I  won’t  do  it.  They  only  cost 
ten  cents  when  they  were  new,  and  these  are  now 
used  and  canceled.  Sell  ’em  to  some  other  fellow. 
I’ll  give  you  a half  a dollar  for  ’em,  and  you  can 
take  it  or  not,  just  as  you  like.  I don’t  care.’ 

<£  ‘Make  it  seventy-five  cents,’  he  says. 

“ ‘No,  I don’t  want  ’em  anyway,’  I replied. 
Most  druggists  give  me  these  stamps  for  nothing, 
and  I don’t  want  to  dicker  over  a few  old  stamps 
that  are  no  good  anyhow.’ 

“ ‘Well,  take  ’em  for  fifty  cents.  They  didn’t 
cost  me  anything.’ 

“Doc,  if  he  had  given  me  a twenty  dollar  bill 
he  wouldn’t  have  given  me  so  much  as  he  did 
when  he  let  me  have  those  stamps  for  fifty  cents. 
I would  have  paid  twenty  dollars  rather  than  to 
have  passed  them,  but  if  I had  intimated  anything 
of  their  being  worth  that,  he  would  think  he  had 
the  rarest  stamp  in  existence  and  would  want  a 
hundred  dollars  for  them.” 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


219 


“You’re  all  right.  But  I haven’t  got  that 
stamp  myself.  I suppose  you  will  make  me  a 
present  of  a copy.” 

“Yes,  I will,  doctor,  with  this  agreement. 
You  demand  Lee’s  goods  when  you’re  ordering 
from  the  jobber,  and  take  no  other,  and  give  me  the 
preference  over  these  chaps  like  Cook  and  Spear 
and  the  other  fellows  just  as  good  as  I am,  but 
not  so  entertaining.” 

“All  right,  old  man.  I’d  do  that  anyhow,  but 
lam  glad  to  get  the  stamp  just  the  same.  Now 
find  a bunch  of  six  cent  orange  proprietaries,  and 
give  me  one,  and  my  weary  life  as  an  unfortunate 
druggist  will  not  be  so  bad.” 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


AN  OLD  TIME  STAMP  HUNTER. 

“Well,  well,  I didn’t  know  you.  What  did 
you  do  with  that  fine  crop  of  red  billy  goat 
whiskers  ? ” 

“Doctor,  what  constitutes  a chump,  a large 
mouse-colored  chump  ? ” 

“ Give  it  up,  unless  you  constitute  one.” 

“ You’re  about  right.  I guess  I’ve  been  one. 
Listen  and  I’ll  tell  you  how  I might  have  made 
thousands  of  dollars  out  of  those  whiskers,  or 
rather  the  absence  of  those  whiskers.” 

“Wait  a minute  till  I see  what  this  customer 
wants.  One  of  Sarg’s  corn  plasters  to  send  to  his 
sister  in  Texas.  Well,  go  ahead  and  tell  me 
about  your  whiskers.” 

“ It  was  this  way,  Doc.  The  last  three  months 

I have  been  out  to  the  Pacific  coast  as  far  south 

as  San  Diego,  California.  Just  after  Christmas 

I bought  a ticket  in  St.  Paul,  paying  one  hundred 

and  twelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  it,  which 

was  good  for  six  months,  allowing  me  to  stop  over 

220 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


221 


as  I pleased,  and  covering  the  Northern  Pacific 
railroad  to  Portland,  Oregon;  then  on  the  South- 
ern Pacific  south  to  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles, 
and  San  Diego,  and  returning  via  Sacramento, 
the  Centra]  Pacific  to  Salt  Lake,  and  the  Union 
Pacific  east  to  Denver,  and  the  Santa  Fe  to  the 
Missouri  river,  either  Omaha  or  Kansas  City. 
It  was  one  of  those  iron  clad  contract  tickets, 
giving  my  full  description,  habits  of  life  and 
antecedents,  color  of  hair  and  eyes,  style  of 
beauty,  size  and  color  of  whiskers,  etc.  I had 
no  trouble  with  it  until  on  the  return  trip  from 
Los  Angeles.  While  in  San  Diego,  it  being  warm 
and  summery,  and  beards  of  my  color  and  char- 
acter being  especially  attractive  to  the  Mojave 
flea  that  predominates  in  that  country,  I took  a 
notion  to  get  shaved  without  first  getting  permis- 
sion from  the  Southern  Pacific  to  do  so.  I 
boarded  the  north  bound  train  for  Sacramento, 
not  thinking  anything  about  my  ticket  Well, 
the  conductor  punched  it  all  right',  but  this  road 
has  a train  agent  who  follows  in  after  the  con- 
ductor and  fires  off  all  those  riding  on  scalpers’ 
tickets,  or  on  otherwise  shady  transportation. 
He  lit  onto  me  without  any  ceremony  at  all,  a 


m 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


cuss  weighing  about  two  hundred  pounds,  and 
demanded  my  ticket.  I gave  it  to  him,  and  he 
looked  it  over,  saw  the  whiskers  punched  but  no 
whiskers  on  his  joblots,  coolly  put  the  ticket  in 
his  pocket  and  said,  ‘You  will  have  to  pay  your 
fare.  This  ticket  don’t  belong  to  you — you 
bought  it  in  Grunewald’s  ticket  agency  in  Los 
Angeles.  ’ 

“Doctor,  it  makes  me  weep  to  think  of  the 
golden  opportunity  I then  lost.  Why  didn’t  I 
keep  still  and  let  them  throw  me  off  as  if  I was  a 
bale  of  hay,  and  sue  the  road  for  twenty  thousand 
dollars  and  get  five  thousand,  as  one  fellow  did 
under  nearly  the  same  circumstances;  but  my  ire 
was  up.  I called  him  a liar  in  real  bad  language; 
that  I got  the  ticket  in  St.  Paul;  that  if  I had  to 
wear  certain  clothes  or  a certain  kind  of  a hair 
cut  to  please  the  Southern  Pacific  railroad,  I 
didn’t  know  it;  that  I would  defy  him  to  put  me 
off  and  so  on,  till  he  believed  me  by  my  explana- 
tions and  gave  me  my  ticket  back.” 

“Well,  I should  say  you  were  a chump,  and 
with  such  a grasping  corporation  as  the  South- 
ern Pacific  railroad,  which  runs  pretty  nearly 
everything  in  Southern  California!  You  are  a 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


223 


d — fool.  You  didn’t  know  enough  to  pound 
sand  into  a rat  hole,  and  traveling  as  you  have,  all 
over  the  United  States!” 

“I  know  it,  Doc.  And  traveling  too,  as  I have, 
on  all  kinds  of  tickets,  no  tickets  at  all,  passes 
that  had  run  out,  women’s  tickets  and  everything; 
and  here  on  my  own  signature.  Well,  like  the 
fellow  in  jail,  when  his  lawyer  called  and  said: 
‘They  can’t  keep  you  in  here;  you  have  no  right 
to  be  here.’  ‘That’s  true  enough,’  the  boy  said, 
‘but  I am  here,  so  what  are  you  going  to  do 
about  it?  ’” 

“Next  time  keep  still.  Start  out  with  no 
whiskers  and  raise  a fine  line  of  ’em  before  you 
come  back  and  see  what  they  say.  But  how  about 
your  stamp  hunts  in  that  country?  Haven’t 
found  a six  cent  orange  proprietary  ? My  collec- 
tion of  the  perforated  revenues  is  now  complete, 
excepting  that  one.” 

“Not  yet,  Doc.,  but  I’ll  get  there  with  them 
some  day.  No,  I didn’t  find  anything  in  Califor- 
nia worth  mentioning.  You  see  in  the  match  and 
medicine  line  eastern  preparations,  upon  which 
were  the  most  valuable  revenue  stamps,  never 
reached  the  Pacific  coast  to  speak  of,  as  the  over- 


224 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


land  railroad  was  not  completed  till  1869.  I told 
you  of  Mr.  Ernest  F.  Gambs  of  San  Francisco, 
as  being  one  of  the  pioneer  dealers.  He  is  also 
one  of  the  leading  authorities  of  the  day  on 
United  States  revenue  stamps,  especially  the 
match  and  medicine  varieties,  of  which  he  has, 
without  doubt,  the  largest  and  most  varied  stock 
in  the  country.  He  also  was  a great  stamp 
hunter  in  the  early  days,  and  for  rare,  valuable 
finds,  he  has  probably  been  more  fortunate  than 
any  one,  at  least  that  I know  of.  I have  proba- 
bly found  more  stamps  in  quantity  than  he,  but 
starting  in  when  they  hadn’t  been  hunted  for  so 
much  as  now  gave  him  the  advantage,  and  he 
was  remarkably  lucky  and  successful.  I found 
him  in  a very  reminiscent  mood,  and  he  told  me 
all  about  his  experiences  with  stamps,  which  I’ll 
repeat  to  you,  Doc. , now  that  I have  got  time  on 
my  hands,  if  I am  not  boring  you.” 

“No,  not  a bit  of  it.  But  come  in  after  sup- 
per and  I'll  be  more  at  leisure  then.  I also  want 
to  look  up  my  plaster  stock.  I’ll  have  quite  a 
little  order  for  you.” 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


225 


u Mr.  Gambs’  first  strike,  which  seemed  to  him 
at  the  time  his  greatest  find,  was  in  1873.  It  was 
an  old  collection,  found  by  chance  in  a second 
hand  book  store  in  Baltimore,  which  he  secured 
for  five  dollars.  It  was  postage  stamps  only,  but 
among  others  very  rare  indeed,  were  two  of  the 
rarest  British  Colonies,  the  Nova  Scotia  and  New 
Brunswick  shillings,  which  now  catalogue  a 
hundred  dollars  and  seventy-five  dollars  each, 
respectively. 

“ Another  great  find  of  his  was  a collection  of 
very  rare  medicine  stamps.  An  old  time  drug- 
gist, a Mr.  Habicht,  who  had  a drug  store  in  the 
old  Barnum  Hotel  in  St.  Louis,  had  a clerk  who 
was  a stamp  fiend,  but  got  tired  and  quit,  and 
was  glad  to  part  with  his  collection  for  four  dol- 
lars. Among  the  stamps  were  Fleming  Bros, 
liver  pills  one  cent  black,  cataloguing  fifty 
dollars;  Husband  two  cent  violet,  fifty  dollars; 
D.  S.  Barnes  one,  two  and  four  cent  Vermillion; 
United  States  Proprietary  Medicine  six  cent;  P. 
H.  Drake  two  cent,  cataloguing  thirty  dollars,  and 
others  equally  rare.  Mr.  Gambs  was  dealing  in 
stamps  in  St.  Louis  in  those  days,  and  although  I 
have  found  some  good  stuff  there  myself,  he  sys- 


226 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


tematically  canvassed  almost  every  drug  store  in 
the  city,  and  has  experienced  many  of  my  joys  of 
rare  finds,  and  also  many  of  my  sorrows  in  find- 
ing stuff  with  the  rare  stamp  torn  off  or  damaged, 
or  where  some  other  fiend  had  been  ahead  of  him. 
He  also  struck  many  fine  lots  of  match  stamps. 
One  day  a boy  came  into  his  place  of  business  in 
St.  Louis  selling  matches.  He  was  surprised  to 
find  each  box  had  an  Alligator  Match  Company 
stamp,  rouletted,  now  catalogued  at  five  dollars. 
It  is  needless  to  say  the  boy  went  out  with  an 
empty  basket.  He  found  one  day  in  an  Illinois 
town  a lot  of  Barber  Match  Company’s  three  cent 
long  strip  stamp,  and  of  course  bought  the  whole 
business  and  sent  it  by  express  to  St.  Louis.  Mr. 
Gam  bs  was  very  shrewd.  He  found  out  that  a 
Philadelphia  drug  house  had  on  hand  a lot  of 
Scheetz  bitter  cordial,  the  jobbing  price  being 
seven  dollars  and  a half  a dozen,  but  the  stamp 
worth  about  sixty  dollars  a dozen.  He  would 
buy  the  medicine  at  the  price,  have  it  shipped  to 
St.  Louis,  take  the  stamp  off  and  slap  on  in  its 
place  a four  cent  regular  issue,  costing  of  course 
only  four  cents,  and  then  sell  the  medicine  back 
again  to  the  firm  billed  from  some  other  name. 


STAMP  HUNTING-. 


227 


He  was  as  sharp  as  Forepaugh,  the  showman,  who 
would  buy  up  old  plug  street  car  horses  in  Phila- 
delphia, rejuvenate  them  on  his  farm  and  sell 
them  back  again  to  the  same  company  and  make 
fifty  per  cent.  He  obtained  thirty-three  copies  of 
the  six  cent  James  C.  Kerr  stamp,  worth  seven 
dollars  each,  from  the  son  of  the  old  doctor,  at 
face  value.  One  time  in  hunting  through  St. 
Louis  drug  stores  for  stamps,  he  ran  across  a lot 
of  Marsden’s  four  cent  black,  but  could  not  get 
the  stamp  without  buying  the  medicine,  which  he 
did,  the  stamp  worth  many  times  the  cost  of  the 
nostrum.  He  was  collecting  accounts  for  his 
uncle,  who  was  in  business,  and  one  of  his  victims 
was  an  old  woman  who  would  continually  stave 
him  off.  One  day  he  found  her  sick  with  a severe 
cold  in  the  chest,  but  could  get  no  money. 
Thinking  she  might  die  without  paying  his 
bill,  he  sent  round  a bottle  of  this  Marsden’s  pec- 
toral balm.  The  next  time  he  called  the  balm  had 
cured  her,  and  she  was  so  full  of  glee  over  it 
she  plunked  up  the  money  due,  much  to  Mr. 
Gambs’  surprise. 

“ He  found  many  stamps  from  mere  chance  and 
sheer  good  luck,  like  our  friend  Gurley  who  found 


228 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


two  four  cent  playing  cards  on  the  street  of 
Chicago. 

‘ 6 The  St.  Louis  Drug  Co. , was  gutted  by  fire 
along  in  the  early  seventies,  and  while  gazing  at 
the  ruins  Mr.  Gambs  picked  out  of  some  sawdust 
quite  a number  of  Dr.  M.  Perl  six  cent  black, 
worth  fifteen  dollars  each,  that  the  water  had 
washed  off  from  the  bottles.  Many  times  in  his 
hunt  for  stamps  he  has  been  taken  for  a detective 
or  government  officer,  as  I have  been.  One  day 
he  was  in  a grocery  store  looking  for  match 
stamps.  Up  jumped  the  little  German  proprietor 
and  said:  ‘ Ach  ne in,  get  away  from  mein  store 

oudt,  alreadty  quick.  I vas  onto  you — you  vas 
ein  detectif,  sphyin’  roundt  to  see  if  mein  goods 
vas  stamped.  I vant  noddings  to  do  mit  you — 
get  oudt ! ’ 

“In  California  he  found  some  good  stamps 
also.  I thought  I had  picked  up  as  many  ten 
cent  black  and  green  proprietaries  as  anybody, 
but  it  seems  that  he  discovered  in  1891  over  one 
thousand  copies  of  this  stamp  in  fine  condition  on 
cans  of  opium.  Another  San  Francisco  find  of 
his  was  seven  copies  of  the  Fetridge  two  cent  Ver- 
million, which  is  found  on  Fetridge’s  balm  of  a 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


229 


thousand  flowers.  I never  have  found  this  stamp, 
which,  in  good  condition,  is  worth  full  catalogue 
price.  I have  run  across  many  bottles  of  the 
balm,  but  the  stamps  thereon  were  always  the 
three  cent  green  proprietary.  At  one  time  a 
large  consignment  of  wax  matches  were  shipped 
to  San  Francisco  from  New  York  via  Cape  Horn. 
Mr.  Gambs  had  the  good  fortune  to  find  one 
hundred  of  these  boxes,  each  having  a ten  cent 
blue  proprietary.  One  time  he  owned  twenty- 
five  copies  of  the  three  cent  playing  card,  unper- 
forated, probably  the  only  known  specimens,  now 
catalogued  at  fifty  dollars.  Only  a very  few  of 
the  rarest,  almost  unobtainable,  match  and  medi- 
cine stamps  have  never  been  in  Mr.  Gambs  pos- 
session, such  as  the  Caterson  playing  card,  Thos. 
E.  Wilson  four  cent  black,  Ayer  four  cent  lilac 
and  a few  others.  He  has  also  made  some  extra- 
ordinary finds  and  deals  in  postage  stamps.  The 
three  cent  pink  1861  unused,  is  now  catalogued 
at  thirty-five  dollars.  He  once  secured  two 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  spotless  copies  for  a few 
cents  each.  At  that  time  no  one  believed  in  this 
stamp,  but  Mr.  John  N.  Luff,  the  expert  on  dis- 
tinguishing varieties  and  dies  and  counterfeits, 


280 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


pronounced  them  the  genuine  pink  and  the  stamp 
had  a boom. 

“Christmas,  1884,  was  a lucky  day  for  him. 
He  located  in  a California  town  five  hundred  of 
the  seven  cent  envelope  entire  on  amber,  a full 
box  of  five  hundred  of  the  ten  cent  1874  (Booby 
die)  on  white,  and  a broken  box  of  the  ten  cent 
1874  on  amber.  An  abandoned  old  hair  trunk 
in  Baltimore  revealed  to  him  a number  of  copies 
of  the  rare  Baltimore  Carrier  stamp,  horseman 
type,  red.  The  now  almost  deserted  village  of 
Pacheco  was,  years  ago,  a prosperous  California 
stage  town.  In  1883  Mr.  Gambs  stumbled  into 
the  postoflice  there  and  came  out  with  six  hun- 
dred of  the  three  cent  chocolate  envelope  1864 
on  white  and  amber.  A week  later  he  landed  in 
Petaluma,  California,  about  the  same  number  of 
six  cent  purple  1864,  on  white  and  amber;  the 
twelve  hundred  cataloguing  twelve  hundred  dol- 
lars. Among  other  rare  stamp  finds  he  obtained 
fifty-five  copies  of  Moody  Michel  Co.  four  cent 
black  in  Yellville,  Arkansas,  and  sixty-five  copies 
of  the  twenty-four  cent  1855,  the  latter  found  in 
San  Francisco  in  1893  by  the  owner,  who  had  put 
them  away  thirty-five  years  before  and  had  for- 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


231 


gotten  their  existence.  Unused  and  perfect  as 
these  were,  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars 
is  not  overestimating  their  present  market  value. 
This  Moody  Michel  stamp  is  much  rarer  than 
the  catalogue  price,  seven  dollars,  would  indicate. 
It  comes  only  on  silk  paper,  and  very  rarely  is 
seen  in  good  condition.  I consider  the  stamp 
worth  ten  dollars  at  least.  Moody,  Michel  & 
Company  were  wholesale  grocers  doing  business 
in  St.  Louis,  and  this  stamp  was  used  on  their 
West  India  bitters.  Later  on,  they  concluded  to 
organize  a sub  company  under  the  name  of  The 
West  India  Manufacturing  Company,  to  manu- 
facture and  handle  the  bitters.  This  necessitated 
a change  of  stamps,  and  the  old  one  became  verg 
scarce  in  consequence.  Mr.  Gambs  ferreted  out 
these  I speak  about  in  a Yellville,  Arkansas,  drug 
store,  and  it  was  one  time  when  he  didn't  have  to 
buy  the  medicine  to  get  the  stamps.  From  this 
same  firm  he  heard  of  three  dozen  bottles  of  the 
Red  Jacket  bitters  in  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas,  and 
after  a good  deal  of  correspondence  he  obtained 
the  stamps  thereon,  the  four  cent  Bennett,  Pieters 
& Company,  but  he  had  to  buy  the  medicine  too, 
paying  a dollar  a bottle  for  it — the  full  retail 


232 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


price.  Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  Mr. 
Gambs5  numerous  stamp  finds  was  that  of  the 
Humboldt  Express  stamp.  In  the  good  old  days 
of  51 9 in  California,  a stage  line  ran  from  Sierra 
County  to  Reno,  Nevada.  The  tariff  on  letters 
carried  on  this  line  was  twenty-five  cents,  and  on 
all  such  letters  for  a while  was  a brown  colored 
stamp  of  the  Humboldt  Express  Company.  Mr. 
Gambs  labored  hard  to  trace  any  of  these  stamps, 
but  with  no  success,  till  alongin  the  year  1888  he 
accidentally  ran  across  a party  who  was  a former 
agent  of  the  company,  and  secured  from  him  a 
dozen  copies  unused  and  perfect.  A genuine  copy 
of  this  stamp  now  cannot  be  obtained  for  less  than 
ten  dollars.  He  secured  a large  quantity  of  the 
A.  Beecher  & Son  match  stamp  now  catalogued 
at  seventy-five  cents.  A Savannah,  Georgia, 
grocer,  had  a number  of  cases  of  these  matches, 
which  were  imperfect,  and  did  not  light.  Mr. 
Gambs  got  ear  of  it  and  purchased  the  lot  for  a 
mere  song.  The  J.  B.  Kelly  & Co.  four  cent 
black  is  a rare  stamp,  used  on  their  Old  Cabin 
bitters,  and  worth  ten  dollars  at  the  least.  He 
purchased  a number  of  bottles  of  this  remedy 
with  stamps  attached,  from  a Belleville,  Illinois, 


STAMP  HOTTING. 


253 


druggist.  Unfortunately,  however,  in  shipping 
them  to  St.  Louis,  some  of  the  bottles  broke,  and 
the  stamps  were  badly  stained.  The  most  valu- 
able and  important  postage  stamp  envelope  find  of 
his  occurred  in  1883  in  Forest  Hill,  an  offshoot 
little  town  in  Placer  County,  California.  The 
ten  cent  green  1861  United  States  envelope 
stamp  has  a market  value  to-day  of  about  fifty 
cents  on  amber  paper,  and  the  six  cent  of  the  same 
issue  on  amber  is  worth  about  one  dollar,  and  the 
six  cent  on  white  paper  about  four  dollars.  Mr. 
Gambs  stepped  into  the  postoffice  aud  asked  for 
anything  obsolete  in  old  stamps  for  sale.  You 
could  hardly  believe  it,  but  among  a lot  of  cheaper 
stuff,  he  found  six  hundred  copies  of  the  ten  cent 
stamp,  over  five  hundred  of  the  six  cent  on  amber, 
and  seventy-five  copies  of  the  six  cent  on  white, 
worth  over  one  thousand  dollars,  costing  him 
about  one  hundred.  Many  times,  though,  he  has 
just  missed  a lot  of  fine  things.  In  the  spring  of 
1894,  a leading  New  York  firm  was  endeavoring  to 
corner  all  of  the  56,000  one  dollar  Columbian 
stamps  they  could.  Mr.  Gambs  learned  of  ninety 
copies  at  Fresno,  California,  postoffice,  and  im- 
mediately sent  a money  order  for  ninety  dollars 


WL 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


for  the  stamps,  but  the  same  mail  brought  to 
the  postoffice  a mail  order  from  the  New  York 
firm  for  three  hundred  and  twenty  dollars,  calling 
not  only  for  the  one  dollar  stamp,  but  all  of  the 
high  value  Columbians  the  postmaster  had,  and 
Mr.  Gambs’  money  was  returned.  He  wept  cop- 
iously when  telling  me  this,  as  the  stamp  went 
up  at  once  to  six  dollars. 

“He  also  deals  in  old  coins.  Our  old  friend 
Mitchell  you  were  telling  me  about,  Doctor,  had 
a coin  the  last  time  I saw  him,  the  half  dime  of 
1802,  he  said  was  worth  over  five  hundred  dollars. 
I told  him  he  was  a liar,  and  he  replied  that  he 
would  give  me  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for 
all  I could  get.  Well,  Mr.  Gambs  happened  to 
step  into  a grocery  store  for  a cigar  one  day  in 
St.  Louis,  along  in  the  year  1877,  and  received  in 
change  one  of  these  rare  coins,  the  finest  speci- 
men known.  He  sold  it  to  a New  York  dealer 
for  fifty  dollars.  The  dealer  refused  two  hun- 
dred dollars  for  it,  thinking  it  would  bring  a 
higher  price  at  auction.  It  was  sold,  however, 
for  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  dollars  and  fifty 
cents,  but  eventually  landed  in  Mr.  Garrett’s  col- 
lection in  Baltimore,  who  paid  six  hundred  dollars 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


235 


for  it,  so  brother  Mitchell  is  not  so  much  of  a liar 
after  all. 

‘ ‘But  the  hour  is  late,  Doc. , and  I’ll  have  to 
quit  for  this  time  and  say  good-by.  My  train 
leaves  in  an  hour.  I’ll  see  that  your  order  is 
shipped  promptly.” 

“All  right,  and  make  it  fifty  pounds  of  cotton 
instead  of  twenty-five.  I am  in  hopes  of  selling 
the  new  hospital  that  opens  up  next  week.  Keep 
your  eye  peeled  for  a six  cent  orange  proprie- 
tary.” 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


THE  GREAT  “ ST.  LOUIS  STAMP  FIND”  IN  LOUISVILLE. 

“ You  remember  telling  me  something  of  a find 
in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  of  St.  Louis  stamps 
worth  thousands  of  dollars?” 

“ Yes,  Doctor,  that  was  the  greatest  find  in  the 
history  of  philately.  You  would  hardly  believe 
it,  but  over  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  were 
paid  Louisville  parties  for  these  stamps  number- 
ing only  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  specimens: 
seventy-five  five  cents,  forty-six  ten  cents  and  six- 
teen twenty  cent  stamps,  a face  value  of  less  than 
twelve  dollars.” 

“Is  it  possible,  and  no  six  cent  orange  propri- 
etaries among  them  either  ? ” 

“No,  Doc.,  rare  and  as  unobtainable  as  that 
stamp  is,  it  falls  far  short  of  the  value  of  St. 
Louis  stamps.  As  I told  you  some  time  ago,  in 
speaking  of  the  leading  stamp  collections,  these 
stamps  range  in  value  from  one  hundred  and  fifty 
to  several  thousand  dollars  each.” 

236 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


237 


“I  can  hardly  believe  it,  yet  I read  in  a daily 
paper  the  other  day  something  about  the  great 
value  put  on  these  stamps  and  this  find  in  Louis- 
ville. How  did  it  come  about — who  made  the 
strike  ? ” 

“There  were  so  many,  Doc.,  that  had  a finger 
in  the  pie,  and  have  been  so  anxious  to  conceal 
their  identity,  that  the  exact  details  of  the  ‘find’ 
are  hard  to  reach  with  accuracy;  but  I’ll  tell  you 
the  story  as  I have  received  it,  as  near  the  exact 
truth  as  it  is  possible  for  any  kind  of  a story  to 
be  told  by  a traveler  in  the  drug  business.” 

“Yes,  you’re  such  a confounded  liar.  I hardly 
know  whether  to  believe  all  you  tell  me  or  not, 
but  go  ahead  with  it.” 

“You  can  rest  assured,  Doc.,  that  the  story  is 
absolutely  true  so  fay  as  the  value  of  the  stamps 
and  the  sums  paid  for  them  is  concerned.  I’ll  go 
back  first  to  a little  history  connected  with  these 
stamps.  Did  I tell  you  how  the  postage  stamp 
happened  to  come  into  use?” 

“No,  I think  not.” 

“Well,  back  in  the  year  1839,  a traveler 
journeying  through  the  north  of  England,  by  the 
name  of  Rowland,  surname  Hill,  stopped  over 


238 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


night  at  a wayside  inn.  I don’t  know  if  his 
whiskers  were  cut  like  a circular  saw,  or  were  of 
a Jo- Jo  effect, — perhaps  he  had  no  whiskers, — 
anyhow  it  is  immaterial.  History  also  fails  to  tell 
us  of  the  character  of  the  inn,  but  the  presump- 
tion is  there  were  sheets  on  the  bed  with  a good 
spring,  so  the  guests  need  not  ring  for  water. 
Whether  on  opening  the  eggs,  they  walked  away 
or  stood  right  still  is  also  not  specified,  but  the 
chances  are,  Doc. , that  if  it  had  been  your  hotel 
here  the  invention  of  the  postage  stamp  would 
have  been  deferred  for  an  indefinite  period,  as 
Rowland  would  not  have  stayed  over  the  night, 
but  moved  on  and  slept  in  the  field  and  got  a good 
night’s  rest.  ” 

“Yes,  but  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  the  St. 
Louis  find?  What  are  you  drinking  to-day, 
river  water?” 

“No,  I don’t  even  bathe  in  it  down  here  in 
‘Egypt’,  but  let  me  continue.  When  brother 
Hill  arose  in  the  morning  to  continue  his  journey, 
a postman  stopped  to  deliver  a letter  addressed  to 
a young  girl,  presumably  a ‘biscuit  pusher’  or 
‘mop  chaser’  about  the  hotel.  All  letters  in  those 
days  were  sent  C.  O.  D. , and  our  lady  friend 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


239 


was  busted;  at  least  she  said  she  was  shy  the 
shilling  necessary  to  retain  the  epistle,  in  the 
meantime  toying  and  twirling  her  chewing  gum 
and  turning  the  letter  over  and  over  in  her  hands. 

“Rowland  stood  by  with  a tear  drop  in  his  eye, 
listening  with  his  large  generous  heart  at  her  song 
and  dance  to  the  postman,  of  being  too  poor  to 
pay  for  the  letter. 

‘ ‘ 4 Allow  me, 5 says  Rowland,  and  at  once  plunks 
up  the  money,  in  spite  of  the  girl’s  protest.  After 
the  postman  had  gone  she  explained  the  matter  to 
our  traveler:  said  that  she  was  indeed  too  poor  to 
pay  for  postage,  but  had  arranged  with  her 
brother,  who  had  written  the  letter,  so  she  could 
tell  what  he  had  to  say  by  secret  marks  on  the 
envelope. 55 

“You’re  lying  now;  envelopes  weren’t  in  exist- 
ence at  that  time.” 

“Anyhow,  Doc.,  the  letter  then  itself  had 
secret  marks;  and  continuing  his  journey,  Row- 
land mused  that  such  a system  invited  dishonesty. 
The  more  he  thought  of  it,  the  more  he  became 
impressed  that  something  attached  to  the  letter 
prepaying  the  postage  was  far  preferable.  His 
views  found  favor  with  the  English  government, 


240 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


and  on  January  10th,  1840,  the  first  postage 

stamp  was  issued. 

“Soon  after  the  use  of  it  in  England,  the  United 
States  Congress  brought  up  the  matter  of  the  use 
of  an  adhesive  stamp  in  this  country.  There  was 
considerable  opposition  to  it  at  first.  The  old 
way  of  a hand  stamp  ‘paid’  or  ‘collect’  placed  on 
the  letters  seemed  to  work  satisfactorily  to  most  of 
the  members  of  Congress.  It  finally  resulted, 
however,  that  a few  postmasters  issued  stamps  for 
the  convenience  of  their  patrons,  and  upon  their 
own  authority.  They  had  no  value  outside  of 
the  postotfice  in  which  they  were  issued,  and 
were  only  recognized  between  the  purchaser  and 
the  postmaster.  The  first  stamps  issued  this  way 
were  by  the  New  York  postmaster;  the  stamp  at 
Brattleboro  came  next  and  the  St.  Louis  stamps 
came  into  use  in  the  fall  of  1845.  Five  and  ten 
cent  stamps  were  the  only  denominations  at  first 
issued.  They  were  engraved  on  a common  visit- 
ing card  plate,  the  design  of  each  denomination 
being  repeated  three  times  upon  the  plate.  Each 
of  the  six  stamps  was  engraved  separately,  and 
therefore  showed  lines  and  marks  different  from 
each  other,  and  that  is  why  this  find  in  Louii  rille 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


241 


proved  so  valuable,  as  it  turned  to  the  light 
certain  dies  of  these  rare  stamps,  whose 
existence  heretofore  was  doubted.  The  necessity 
of  a higher  value,  a twenty  cent  stamp,  soon  made 
itself  apparent,  and  the  five  cent  was  altered  to 
twenty  cents,  and  when  the  stock  of  five  cents 
some  time  afterward  became  exhausted,  the 
the  twenty  cent  plate  was  again  re-altered  back  to 
five  cents,  still  further  creating  complicated  vari- 
eties. The  use  of  these  stamps  was  entirely  op- 
tional and  their  popularity  was  limited  to  a few 
large  firms.  The  general  public  preferred  to  use 
the  hand  stamp  ‘paid. 5 The  two  leading  concerns 
using  the  stamps  were  Crow  & Co.,  jobbers  of 
dry  goods,  and  ffm.  Nisbet  & Co.,  private  bank- 
ers of  St.  Louis. 

“You  can  thus  see,  Doc.,  that  the  stamps  are 
very  rare,  and  these  137  found  in  Louisville  are 
probably  the  last  that  will  ever  turn  up,  as  the 
original  plates  and  remainders  were  destroyed. 

“In  those  days  Louisville  was  the  gateway  to 
the  South,  and  commercially  stood  ahead  of  both 
St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati.  The  Louisville  con- 
nections and  correspondents  of  Nisbet  & Co.  were 
Tyler  and  Rutherford,  and  all  the  mail  at  this 


242 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


time  addressed  to  this  firm  from  St.  Louis  bore 
the  St.  Louis  stamps.  This  was  known  to  the 
leading  stamp  firm  in  St.  Louis,  who  had  made  a 
special  study  of  these  stamps,  but  all  trace  of  the 
Louisville  house  and  their  correspondence  had 
disappeared. 

“Late  in  the  summer  of  1895,  Jackson,  a colored 
porter  employed  in  the  Louisville  court  house,  was 
requested  to  clean  out  a lot  of  rubbish  in  the 
basement  and  burn  up  the  old  correspondence  and 
paper  that  had  lain  there  till  it  was  an  eyesore. 
While  stoking  the  stuff  into  the  furnace,  several 
old  letters  struck  him  as  being  peculiar,  having 
4 4 bear  picture  stamps”  on  them.  Jackson  had  never 
seen  anything  of  the  kind  before  and  he  concluded 
to  put  a few  in  his  pocket.  There  was  no  telling 
how  many  he  had  burned  up  before  he  thought  of 
this  move.  At  any  rate  he  had  quite  a little 
bunch  of  them  saved,  and  when  the  head  janitor 
of  the  building  came  in  and  showed  an  interest 
in  the  stamps,  Jackson  asked  him  what  he  would 
give  him  for  them,  and  readily  accepted  two  bits 
and  a can  of  beer.  The  janitor,  knowing  of  a 
fellow  who  collected  stamps,  took  them  around  to 
him  that  evening,  thinking  possibly  he  could  make 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


243 


a dollar  or  so  on  the  deal,  and  was  agreeably  sur- 
prised to  receive  ten  dollars  for  the  lot  of  nine 
stamps,  really  worth  nearer  three  thousand  dol- 
lars. 

“As  Jackson  had  not  opened  or  destroyed  all 
the  boxes  of  old  letters,  the  janitor  took  his  co- 
worker into  his  confidence  and  at  an  early  hour  the 
next  morning  ripped  open  the  remaining  boxes, 
and  altogether  found  the  entire  137  St.  Louis 
stamps,  directed  to  the  old  Louisville  firm  from 
Nisbet  & Co.,  St.  Louis.  They  reasoned  out  to 
themselves  that  if  nine  were  worth  ten  dollars, 
137  should  bring  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.  They  concluded  to  let  in  a third  party, 
better  posted  and  educated,  as  to  the  best  way  to 
dispose  of  them.  On  the  following  Sunday  the 
trio  called  on  a stamp  acquaintance  on  Market 
Street,  with  a dozen  of  the  stamps,  and  asked  him 
what  he  would  give  for  the  lot.  The  sight  of  the 
rare  stamps  almost  took  the  dealer’s  breath  away. 
He  was  posted  on  their  value,  and  on  closer 
examination  discovered  three  stamps  to  be  of  the 
rarest  dies  and  worth  hundreds  of  dollars.  ‘I’ll 
give  you  twenty-dollars  apiece  for  them.’  The 
sellers  were  astounded,  and  jumped  at  it  at  once, 


244 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


receiving  three  hundred  dollars  for  the  lot.  They 
now  had  116  stamps  left,  and  figured  out  that 
either  the  stamp  dealer  was  crazy  or  they  had 
left  several  thousand  dollars  worth  of  stamps. 

“The  following  night  they  met  at  the  janitor’s 
house  to  discuss  the  situation,  and  decided  that 
two  of  them  would  go  to  New  York  with  twenty 
of  the  stamps,  and  try  to  close  them  out  to  the 
leading  firms  there,  and  in  the  meantime  the  third 
party  would  undertake  to  dispose  of  ten  of  them 
in  Louisville  at  not  less  than  twenty-five  dollars 
each,  which  he  did. 

“On  arriving  in  New  York  they  were  sharp 
enough  to  first  investigate  the  value  of  the  stamps 
on  the  market,  and  soon  discovered,  although  they 
had  no  knowledge  of  the  different  die  varieties, 
that  the  twenty  stamps  should  bring  one  hundred 
dollars  each  or  two  thousand  dollars.  They  easily 
obtained  that  price,  and  returned  to  Louisville 
with  some  idea  of  what  a fortune  they  had.  There 
were  now  left  unsold  86  stamps:  eight  twenties, 
twenty-four  tens  and  fifty-two  fives.  Hitherto 
they  had  paid  no  attention  to  the  different  values, 
but  now  realizing  that  the  twenties  and  the  re- 
touched fives  were  worth  a great  deal  more,  they 


STAMP  HUNTIHO. 


245 


decided  to  ask  more  accordingly.  After  further 
council  on  the  manner,  they  concluded  to  try  St. 
Louis  this  time,  and  wrote  on  first,  stating  they  had 
four  St.  Louis  stamps  on  an  original  envelope,  two 
fives,  one  ten  and  one  twenty,  asking  what  they 
would  give  for  them.  It  so  happened  that  this  com- 
bination was  considered  by  the  St.  Louis  firm  as  of 
doubtful  existence,  and  they  wired  back,  ‘Send 
C.  O.  D.  subject  to  examination;  one  thousand 
dollars. 5 This  staggered  them  more  than  any  of 
the  series  of  former  surprises,  and  they  saw  at 
once  that  they  had  missed  it  for  not  negotiating 
with  this  firm  before.  They  took  the  first  train 
for  St.  Louis  with  eighteen  of  the  stamps  and 
received  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  all  told.  In 
the  meantime,  one  of  the  officers  of  the  company 
had  got  wind  that  this  lot  comprised  only  a frac- 
tion of  a large  find  in  Louisville,  and  immediately 
after  the  two  had  departed,  he  took  a train  for 
Louisville  on  a still  detective  hunt,  to  get  at  the 
bottom  of  the  facts  concerning  the  find.  He  ar- 
rived about  as  soon  as  the  stamp  venders  and  for 
three  days  quietly  ferreted  out  the  facts.  From 
the  party  who  paid  the  first  ten  dollars,  he  gradu- 
ally traced,  including  the  eighteen  bought  in  St. 


248 


STAMP  HUNTING, 


Louis,  ninety-five  of  the  stamps,  and  step  by  step 
gradually  acquired  them  all  at  an  enormous  expen- 
diture of  over  twenty-three  thousand  dollars.  But 
as  enormous  as  the  sum  seems,  Doc.,  the  St. 
Louis  firm  realized  in  the  resale  of  the  stamps 
close  to  twenty  thousand  dollars  clear  profit.5’ 


i 


CHAPTER  XX. 


THE  GREATEST  FIND  OF  ALL. 

“Well,  the  druggist  has  got  it  once  more  in 
the  neck.  I was  just  reading  the  new  law, 
Doctor,  requiring  stamps  to  be  put  on  the  pro- 
prietary articles  again,  and,  although  it  will 
help  the  stamp  business  and  no  doubt  start  many 
new  collectors,  the  druggist  has  to  pay  for  it.” 

“That’s  true.  It  is  too  bad.  We  can’t  raise 
the  selling  price  on  most  of  the  articles  taxed, 
but  the  manufacturer  raises  the  price  on  us,  many 
of  them  to  twice  the  cost  of  the  stamps,  and  there 
we  are.” 

“You  will  have  to  make  it  up,  Doc.,  on  crude 
drugs  and  prescriptions,  and  charge  more  for 
them.” 

“Yes,  I can  do  that  to  a certain  extent,  but 
the  nuisance  and  inconvenience  of  it  is  very 
annoying.  Excepting  compound  drugs,  it  taxes 
almost  everything  in  the  store.  Pharmaceutical 
preparations,  pills,  compound  tablets,  powders, 
etc. — every  medicinal  compound  whatsoever, 

247 


248 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


must  be  stamped,  no  matter  whether  one  man- 
ufacturer or  ten  make  the  article.” 

“Yes,  that’s  so.  The  old  law  covered  only 
patent  medicines,  and  the  like,  but  this  is  sweep- 
ing in  its  provisions;  even  our  old  corn  plasters 
and  mustard  leaves  must  be  stamped. 

‘ ‘ The  clause  on  private  stamps  will  make  a 
great  many  new  medicine  stamps,  but  that  two 
thousand  dollar  provision  will  preclude  many 
from  taking  advantage  of  it,  and  those  taking  it 
must  buy  so  many  stamps  that  there  will  proba- 
bly be  no  more  such  rarities  as  Thomas  E.  Wil- 
son’s, Morehead’s,  Neurodyne,  Husband’s  violet, 
etc.  Still  they  will  be  interesting  to  collect,  as 
much  so  as  the  old  ones.  I’ll  take  especial  inter- 
est in  watching  them  as  they  come  out,  and  in 
about  twenty  years  from  now  a new  set  of 
‘ stamp  hunters  ’ will  crop  out,  digging  through 
the  drug  stores  for  stamps  for  ‘ their  little  boys 
who  are  making  a collection.’  ” 

“At  the  same  time,  old  man,  everyone  will 
want  to  save  them,  like  the  Columbians,  and  the 
result  will  be  that  only  a very  few  will  ever  be 
catalogued  higher  than  in  cents  probably.  But 
the  law  requiring  their  use  is  burdensome  and  the 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


249 


tax  excessive,  and  I believe  it  will  be  of  short 
duration.  For  that  reason,  therefore,  it  is  pos- 
sible some  varieties  of  papers  and  errors,  etc., 
may  crop  out,  upon  which  a high  price  may  be 
placed.  ” 

“ Yes,  Doctor,  and  then  again  I am  inclined  to 
think  that  the  law  will  be  repealed  for  the  reason 
that  there  will  be  no  need  of  the  tax.  Spain  is 
now  ready  to  throw  up  her  hands,  and  I think 
the  two  countries  will  soon  be  at  peace.  ” 

4 6 1 hope  so,  but  it  is  harder  to  repeal  a law 
than  it  is  to  enact  it.  But  how  about  }rour  stamp 
hunts?  Haven’t  you  run  across  a bunch  of  St. 
Louis  stamps  like  the  ‘find’  in  Louisville  you 
were  telling  me  about?  ” 

“No,  Doc.,  but  I heard  of  a case  while  in  St. 
Louis  that  shows  the  irony  of  fate.  One  of  the 
leading  stamp  collectors  there,  who  by  the  way 
has  as  fine  a collection  as  any  one  in  the  city,  ex- 
cepting Tiffiny’s,  destroyed  a whole  lot  of  the  rare 
St.  Louis  issue,  thinking  they  were  of  no  value, 
not  being  the  regular  brand  of  postage  stamps. 
He  was  collecting  in  a small  way  back  in  the 
seventies  and  one  day  while  looking  over  a lot  of 
correspondence  for  the  general  run  of  stamps  he 


250 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


was  struck  with  the  oddity  of  these  6 bear  picture 
stamps,’  but  being  a local  issue  thought  they 
were  of  no  particular  value  and  threw  them 
away.  He  was  careful  to  save  stamps  worth  now 
perhaps  a dollar  or  so,  but  pairs  of  retouched  five 
cent  St.  Louis  worth  thousands  of  dollars  were 
passed  as  not  worth  picking  up.  You  remember 
my  telling  you,  Doc.,  about  a ten  cent  Baltimore 
found  in  Louisville,  which  eventually  sold  for  four 
thousand  four  hundred  dollars.  Well,  I met  the 
boy  who  found  that  stamp,  which  made  as  much 
of  a stir  for  the  time  being  as  the  St.  Louis  one. 
It  was  uncovered  in  an  old  lawyer’s  office  with  sev- 
eral hundred  ten  cent  1847,  and  other  good  stuff. 
The  attorney  had  told  my  friend  he  could  have  any- 
thing in  the  office,  and  when  this  Baltimore  came 
to  light  the  boy  knew  at  once  it  was  a good 
stamp,  but  had  no  intimation  of  its  real  value. 
He  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  an  older  friend  in 
Louisville  to  sell  for  him,  and  the  leading  stamp 
firms  in  Washington,  New  York  and  St.  Louis 
were  telegraphed  to  make  offers,  and  the  result 
was  the  St.  Louis  firm  got  it,  but  costing  them,  I 
am  told,  nearly  two  thousand  dollars.  Anyhow, 
it  now  rests  in  Mr.  Castle’s  collection  in  Spring- 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


251 


field,  Mass. , who  paid  the  sum  stated  for  it,  four 
thousand  four  hundred  dollars,  the  highest  price 
up  to  that  time  ever  paid  for  a single  postage 
stamp. 

“ But  let  me  tell  you  of  a find  I had  myself 
last  week  that  will  surprise  you,  Doc. — the  great- 
est of  them  all.  I was  in  a little  town  down  here  on 
the  Ohio,  the  oldest  in  the  state;  so  old  that  when 
Lafayette  sailed  down  the  river,  the  town  was 
there  ready  to  receive  him.  There  is  an  odd 
genius  there  in  the  drug  business,  with  a stock 
some  of  it  so  old  it  was  there  before  the  stamp 
law  of  the  sixties  was  enacted.  He  is  one  of  the 
best  known  characters  in  the  business.  Years 
ago  he  was  justice  of  the  peace,  and  everybody 
calls  him  ‘ Judge.’  To  size  the  old  fellow  up  you 
wouldn’t  think  he  had  a dollar  to  his  name  and 
was  a fit  candidate  for  the  poor  house.  His 
beaver  looked  like  the  kind  put  over  bricks  on 
April  1st  for  fools  to  kick,  and  rumor  has  it  that 
he  has  worn  the  same  suit  of  clothes  for  the  last 
twenty  years.  No  one  ever  saw  him  with  a collar 
on,  and  he  wears  a shirt  till  it  wears  out  and  then 
buys  another  one.  But  the  Judge  can  laugh  at 
us.  He  owns  nearly  all  the  town  and  can  buy 


STAMP  HUNTIHGK 


m 

out  all  the  druggists  in  the  county.  His  store, 
too,  looks  as  dilapidated  as  the  owner,  a regular 
junk  shop.  Goods  wTere  piled  on  the  floor  and 
broken  show  cases,  dirt  and  uncleanliness  every- 
where. Drugs  were  mixed  in  with  patent  medi- 
cines, and  cobwebs  and  the  like  gave  the  place  an 
appearance  as  much  unlike  what  a drug  store 
ought  to  be  as  it  is  possible  to  imagine.  He 
always  had  a habit  of  saving  everything,  never 
throwing  anything  away. 

“I  had  dug  through  his  stock  before  for 
stamps,  but  without  finding  anything  at  all.  He 
said  his  nephew  back  East  was  out  to  visit  him, 
and  being  a stamp  fiend  took  off  everything  him- 
self. Well,  last  week  I was  down  there  again  on 
my  regular  route,  and  after  selling  him  a small 
order,  he  asked  me  if  I was  still  interested  in 
stamps.  Of  course  I told  him  I was  and  he  said: 

“ ‘I  was  looking  through  my  old  safe  the  other 
day  for  some  certain  papers,  and  I came  across 
a lot  of  stamps  in  an  old  envelope  that  I did  not 
know  I had,  and  must  have  laid  there  for  over 
twenty-five  years.  ’ 

6 ‘ ‘ What  kind  are  there,  Judge?5 1 asked.  i Trot 
’em  out.  I may  be  able  to  buy  ’em  of  you.’ 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


253 


“In  a few  minutes  he  came  back  with  the 
envelope  and  opened  it  before  me.  Well,  Doc., 

1 nearly  dropped  dead.  My  breath  was  taken 
away;  I was  dumbfounded.  Tears  filled  my  eyes. 
After  many  days,  too  true!  too  true! 

“The  Judge  says,  ‘What’s  the  matter  with 
you,  are  you  'in  pain?  ’ 

“ ‘ No,  no;  no  pain  Judge.  I lost  a very  dear 
friend  recently  and  you  must  excuse  me.  I feel 
pretty  bad  over  it.  ’ 

6 ‘ Doc. , would  you  believe  me,  and  would  you 
wonder  at  my  feelings,  when  I tell  you  that  these 
stamps  numbered  three  hundred  unused  and  per- 
fect in  blocks  and  sheets  of  the  six  cent  orange 
proprietary,  catalogued  at  §15,000?” 

“No,  I don’t  believe  you.  You’re  lying  to  me.” 

“But  there  they  were,  just  the  same.” 

“You  don’t  mean  it;  it  can’t  be  true.  My  • 
heavens,  a six  cent  orange  proprietary  that  I 
have  been  trying  to  buy  for  §30  for  the  last 
nine  months,  and  there  you  were  with  300  of 
them!  I can’t  believe  it.  They  must  be  counter- 
feit.” 

“That’s  what  I thought,  and  I questioned  the 
old  fellow  all  about  ’em. 


254 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


“‘I  came  by  them  in  this  way, ’ says  the 
Judge: 

‘ ‘ ‘ There’s  quite  a history  connected  with  these 
stamps.  Along  in  the  sixties  I was  in  partner- 
ship with  a Dr.  Hall,  and  we  put  a medicine  up 
of  our  own,  called  Dr.  Hall’s  fever  and  ague 
cure,  and  priced  it  $1.50.  There  was  a good 
deal  of  ague  and  fever  in  this  country  in  those 
days,  but  we  soon  found  out  a dollar  and  a half 
was  too  much  to  ask  for  the  medicine  and  we 
changed  the  price  to  a dollar  a bottle.  I don't 
know  how  it  was  but  these  three  hundred  stamps 
were  never  used.  I suppose  Hall  got  them,  and 
then  finding  it  best  to  change  the  price,  bought 
four  cent  stamps,  and  in  some  way  these  were 
never  exchanged,  and  have  laid  there  forgotten 
and  unknown  all  these  years.  Are  they  any  good 
now,  I wonder?  ’ 

“ ‘Oh,  yes;  they  are  of  some  value,  Judge, but 
there  are  so  many  of  them,  and  all  of  one  kind. 
I would  like  to  have  one  of  them  for  my  collec- 
tion, but  I hardly  know  what  to  offer  you  for  the 
lot.’ 

“ ‘Oh,  I’ll  give  you  one;  but  can’t  you  use 
them  all?  What  will  you  give  for  ’em?  They 


STAMP  HUNTING. 


255 


are  no  use  to  me  now,  and  you  can  trade  them 
off  round  the  country.  ’ 

“ ‘Well,  what  will  you  take  for  the  bunch? 5 
“ ‘ You  may  have  them  for  what  they  cost  us, 
six  cents  apiece;  eighteen  dollars  for  the  lot.’ 

“ ‘But  that  is  more  money  than  I can  spare;  but 
I’ll  risk  it  some  way.  I’ll  tell  you  what  I’ll  do, 
Judge,  I’ll  pay  you  fifteen  dollars  in  cash  and 
send  you  two  dozen  of  Sorg’s  corn  plasters. 
You  can  get  six  dollars  for  them,  and  that  will 
really  give  you  more  money  than  your  own  offer.  ’ 
“ ‘All  right,  take  ’em  along.’ 

“Doc,  I don’t  know  how  I got  to  my  hotel, 
whether  I ran  or  walked,  or  swam  up  the  river. 
I was  dazed — I was  crazy.  ” 

“I  should  think  you  would  be  crazy;  but  what 
did  you  do?  Where  are  the  stamps?  I won’t 
believe  it  unless  you  make  me  a present  of  a 
copy.” 

“Wait  till  I get  through.  I thought  it  over 
that  night  how  I could  place  these  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  finally  decided  I would  dispose  of 
the  lot  in  a bunch,  and  not  parcel  them  out. 
Acting  on  that  decision  I left  my  samples  behind, 
took  the  boat  to  Cairo,  Illinois,  and  boarded  the 


256  STAMP  HUNTING. 

Big  Four  express  for  the  East,  and  the  third  day 
afterwards  reached  Boston.  I immediately  went 
out  to  Lynn  and  hunted  up  Mr.  Howard  K.  San- 
derson, knowing  he  had  the  ready  resources  to 
buy  anything,  no  matter  how  much,  if  he  could 
see  a profit  in  investing.  I soon  found  him,  and 
asked  him  if  he  wanted  to  buy  a block  of  four 
six  cent  orange  proprietaries.” 

“ ‘Yes;  how  much  do  you  want  for  them?  ’ 

“ ‘I’ll  sell  you  three  hundred  of  them,  unused, 
in  blocks,  for  ten  thousand  dollars  spot  cash  for 
the  lot.’ 

“‘Yes,  I guess  you  will,’ he  replied.  ‘You 
nor  no  one  else  ever  saw  three  hundred  of  these 
stamps  in  blocks.  ’ <* 

“ ‘ It  don’t  make  any  difference.  I have  them 
just  the  same.  You  may  not  believe  it,  but  here 
they  are.’ 

“Well,  Doc,  he  was  as  surprised  as  I was,  but 
did  not  weep.  He  might  hav*e  wept  if  I had 
offered  them  for  eighteen  dollars,  but  he  took  my 
offer  after  I had  explained  how  I got  them. 

‘ ‘ ‘ First,  ’ he  says,  ‘ you  must  make  out  an  affi- 
davit that  no  one  else  has  seen  them,  and  agree 
not  to  tell  anyone  or  advertise  the  fact.  Your 


STAMP  HUNTING.  25? 

word  is  good,  but  your  agreement  in  writing  is 
better. 5 

‘ ‘ ‘ All  right, 5 I said,  ‘ that’s  satisfactory.  ’ So 
we  went  into  Boston,  drew  up  the  agreement  that  I 
would  forever  keep  the  find  a secret,  etc. ; went 
into  the  Boylston  National  Bank  and  in  a few  min- 
utes he  had  the  stamps,  and  I had  in  my  fist  ten 
thousand  dollars — five  one  thousand  dollar  bills, 
eight  five  hundred  dollar  bills,  and  the  rest 
in  one  hundreds  and  fifties.  I was  then  so  over- 
come I felt  a change  come  over  the  situation. 
The  air  seemed  to  thicken.  I looked  around  in 
alarm  and  the  bank  and  my  money  had  vanished. 
I then  turned  over  against  the  wall  and  shed  tears 
in  earnest,  but  not  from  joy  and  thanksgiving. 

“Doc,  instead  of  picking  up  six  cent  orange 
proprietaries  in  reality,  I was  trying  to  pick  the 
knots  out  of  the  mattress  of  your  cheap  hotel 
here.  I was  dreaming,  that  was  all.” 


(THE  END.) 


PRICE,  50c 


by  LEWIS  ROBfE. 


WE  BUY,  SELL  AND  EXCHANGE 


ALL  KINDS  OF 

Stamps  for  Collections 


But  more  especially  the 

REVENUE  STAMPS 


...of... 

United  States  and  Canada. 

« « « 

If  von  have  anything  to  sell,  send  it  on  for  our  offer; 
or  make  your  own  price,  and  if  satisfactory  will  remit 
promptly. 

If  you  wish  to  buy  anything  in  this  line,  send  on  your 
want  list  for  priceing.  Stamps  sent  on  approval  to 
responsible  parties. 

t t t 

f 

LEWIS  ROBIE  & CO., 

I 

63'!  W.  Adams  Street, 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

j * 


